This year I have decided to undertake two challenges in aid of charity. In July the weekend of 17^th/18^th Phill and I shall be cycling Coast to Coast (C2C) which is 140 miles in two days; this route takes you from Whitehaven to Sunderland and involves crossing the Lake District and Pennines. In September I will be running the Great North run with my Aunt; this is a half marathon (13.2 miles). All this is in aid of my chosen Charity the MS Society.                                                                               Some of you may or may not know this but two years ago my mum was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which leads to a progressive loss of function of the neurones in your body (these are the cells which transport information in the brain to the rest of your body), this can result in the loss of movement, memory and sight amongst many other symptoms of this horrible disease. It is a reasonably common disease and most people reading this may know someone who has MS, as around 100,000 people in the UK have this disease. However to date there is no cure and current treatment only attempts to control the relapses it does not prevent them.

However there is hope and help for the MS patients with the charity the MS society. This charity provides help and care on two fronts; firstly it provides specialist MS nurses who help the patients adapt to living with the disease. The MS nurses in particular helped my mum learn how deal with the daily injections she has to do for the rest of her life, which I know was particularly hard for her as she had to deal with her phobia of needles. The MS society also has many support groups set up throughout the country which helps the patients talk about their disease to people who know and understand; it also provides support for the careers of the MS patients by providing respite centres. Secondly the MS society provides vital money and support for essential research into the causes and cures of the disease, and I know that this money is being spent so well and wisely as I have witnessed the excellent research that was being performed in Bristol. There is a hope that the research being performed today may provide a cure for the future.

 This charity does mean a lot to me and any money donated (no matter how big or small) would be gratefully received. I thank you all in advance for your kindness.

Emma

xx

http://www.mssociety.org.uk/index.html

Update: We did it!!!! C2C in two days! We got very wet, windsept and were completely exhausted. The first day was completed in 12 hours; this day included many hills as we crossed the lake district unfortunately a back wheel puncture on Phill's bike and a final 1900ft climb up Hartside. The second day was complete in 10 hours; this included climbing the highest peak of C2C, and going downhill from this my front tyre burst (this was quite scarey and I was lucky I was breaking to go around the corner) and finally a nice downhill section to Sunderland.

I would just like to say a huge thank you for all your support and sponsorship, as I know we wouldn't have been able to complete the huge cycle without the knowledge that so many people were behind us. I have attached some photographs of our challenge. Role on the Great North Run!!