My darling wife Mel has cancer.  It's a weird, rare and slow growing condition called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC is sooooo much easier - I shall be using it from now on!).  It's extremely rare - in the UK maybe 20 cases are identified each year (she constantly reminds me how special she is!).  She has already beaten it once - they removed a lump the size of a tennis ball from her head 3 years ago - but we found out last summer that it has returned, this time in her lungs.  Although ACC is slow growing and Mel doesn't have any outward symptoms at the moment, it is relentless and currently there is no cure.  Surgery and radiotherapy won't work - it would destroy too much of the healthy lung in the process of removal - and chemo might slow the tumours' growth, but it won't get rid of them.

Because ACC is so rare it is really difficult to understand how it develops & behaves.  This is why it is so challenging to build momentum around finding the cure.  It is hugely difficult to secure funding from drug companies because research in this field is so niche & relatively small-scale and they cannot see a quick & obvious return on their investment.  The major cancer charities do wonderful work but, totally understandably, their donations support research into more common and wide-spread cancers.  There have been some recent breakthroughs in ACC research, but a cure is still years away, at best.

So, I am going to ride a bike 'End 2 End' to raise money towards finding the cure for ACC.  I leave Lands End on 28th August and plan to take 11 days to get to John O'Groats, over 900 miles later.  A bunch of great mates, including Mel's Dad, Rod, are joining me for some of the stages, so I will be accompanied every day, which is awesome.

Mel is driving the support vehicle so cannot cycle, but has decided to keep the docs happy by walking 5 miles each day of the tour with my Dad.  It's a team effort after all!!

So please sponsor us whatever you can - any donation is hugely HUGELY appreciated.  Get A Head is the brilliant charity that will receive and manage your donations.  It is a small (but perfectly formed) charity dedicated to helping those who suffer head and neck cancers and they are committed to funding ACC research.  Because they are small, Get A Head's admin costs are tiny (and our trip is totally self-funded), so I promise that every penny of your donation will be used to fund research into ACC. 

Also, If you are interested in following our progress, we are setting up a group on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=142056479145387&start=#!/group.php?gid=142056479145387 - which you are welcome to join.  We are going to blog our experiences and upload photos and videos along the ride - I apologise in advance about the lycra.

So please dig deep and donate now - we REALLY appreciate it.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.