Myself and my colleagues from work will be cycling 55.6 miles that’s 89.5km and (just over two marathons) from our Hertfordsire studio to our Cambridge studio and back, to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. There are so many different charities for all different types of cancer but what makes one charity more important than the next?

Each and everyone of us will be affected by cancer at some stage in our lives. Without a doubt we will all know somebody, a family member, a friend, a friend of a friend that will be taken from this dreaded disease. So often we hear the... ‘Did you know they found out they had cancer?’ the ‘Isn’t that awful’ response and if it doesn’t directly effect us and our personal lives - we just carry on... life goes on.

In 2009 so almost 8 years ago my dad Rudi, was taken from us far too suddenly. If anybody knew my dad he was such a strong and proud person. He was a family man at heart, hard working and well respected... and Cancer striped him from this. What started as a pain in his belly, us all wondering what he may have accidentally eaten, followed by several scans over the course of a couple of weeks to the news that he had pancreatic cancer and only had months to live. 

He died two weeks after his diagnosis. 

No chance of chemo or radio-therapy - cancer denied him even the choice. And just like that, he was gone. He quickly deteriorated into a man we no longer recognisd and once loved and as a family we were left heartbroken. Like a whirlwind, cancer had entered our home, paid a short visit and left, taking my dad with it - Why him? I can’t even begin to explain the emotions that followed and how it changed us all as human beings. Anybody who has had experienced cancer will simply know and if you haven’t, then you can only be grateful. My dad was never able to meet his four grandchildren, my mum no longer has her lifelong companion and I was never able to show my dad the woman that I’ve grown to be. 

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers. There are hardly any symptoms so in almost every case, diagnosing the cancer is too late. 80% of patients with the terminal disease will have an average life expectancy of 4-6 months. More and more people are beginning to hear about this dreaded cancer because of the shocking statistics. So although pancreatic cancer is the 7th most common cause of cancer death across the whole of the world, only 2% of overall cancer funding is given to pancreatic cancer. And although studies show that that death rate for most other cancers are declining, pancreatic cancer is increasing.

The only way to help is through research. It’s the key to improving survival chances for those diagnosed with the cancer. Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund are solely dedicated to funding and promoting research.Their mission is to defeat pancreatic cancer by funding and promoting innovative, world-class research into the disease - research that will lead to the development of more effective detection, diagnosis and treatment. To date, the charity have supported 40 research projects with grants totalling £6.2 million - all through fundraising and donations. Please help us to reach our £1000 target so we’re able to fight back against what is known as the ‘silent killer’.

Thank you,

Francesca & The Marathon Riders