Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

It’s not often you get a win-win situation, so when the opportunity to raise much needed cash for a worthy charity, and the opportunity to get raise much needed fitness levels for myself, appeared to go hand in hand then it seemed foolish not to.

Some may say its foolish to consider an 80 mile bike ride, and I am sure that there are going to be times over the coming weeks where I will agree with them. Being the wrong side of 45, and only just the right side of 50, coupled with not having ridden a road bike for 10 years + this makes this more of a challenge. This is a much greater distance than I have ever cycled before but I think it is important to push myself if I want people to part with their hard earned cash for a good cause.

Enough about me, now the real reason.

My daughter, then 12, was diagnosed with brain tumour in August last year and had two major brain operations over the space of four days.

The outcome for her has proved fortunate at present and she is now attending school full time (good), meeting all her pre-diagnosis school targets and behaving like any normal teenager should (not so good).

The medical team were excellent and the support given by them during her time in hospital made the unbearable more bearable. Outside of hospital support is only avialable from charities like Friends of OSCAR.

Friends of OSCAR looks to support children and families who have been diagnosed with brain and spinal tumours. This can be in the form of information both in the early stages or for ongoing care, to days out, and networking trips to meet others in the same situation. It is invaluable to realise you are not alone.

So dig deep and donate.

http://www.friendsofoscar.org.uk/