In 2008 as Stephenson College Director at Hummersknott Academy I was privileged enough to help support the families of Lilli Broadbent and Harvey Gaydon through a very difficult time. Lilli was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. She had an operation to remove the tumor in May 2008, when surgeons also removed a large amount of affected bone and replaced it with a titanium implant. She received chemotherapy on a ‘two weeks on, two weeks off’ schedule at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and has now been in remission for four years. Harvey was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2008 for a second time, and following chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant he returned to school at the end of 2009. Sadly the Leukemia returned for a third time and despite one all mighty fight Harvey passed away on 15^th July 2011. In 2010 Kieran Maxwell was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2010. This meant his leg had to be amputated, and whilst he is now in remission, he still requires regular check-ups to ensure the cancer has not returned. And very recently Olivia Rowell has been diagnosed with cancer and is already accessing the support and care from the RVI hospital in Newcastle.

EVERY day six families are told their teenager has cancer. That figure is rising. Many of the forms of cancer diagnosed are rare, including bone cancer, leukemia and osteosarcoma. But all too often teenagers treated for the illness find it difficult to settle within a hospital environment – too old for a children’s ward yet too young to be treated alongside adult patients. The teenage cancer unit at the RVI provides the best environment for the families and the teenager and having seen it first-hand on a number of occasions and witnessed how much it means to the families I am attempting to ride 250 miles on my road bike in Norfolk on 2^nd-4^th May 2014 to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Fund, The Great North Children’s Hospital and the NECCR. The money raised will be spent to continue to make any stay on the ward as comfortable and teenage friendly as possible and support the cancer reseach for children on the ward