Some of you may know that one of my little boys, Sam (now 14 months and doing great) was born premature with a heart condition. At just three days old with his heart the size of a walnut he had one of two operations which helped save his life. The people who looked after him both at the Royal Brompton and at Kingston (who also looked after his twin brother James in ICU) were amazing and I can't thank them enough.

It costs over £12k a day to look after a typical child in the Paediatric intensive Care Unit (PICU) - and the place was literally full of kids of all ages, some had been in there for over 9 months.

Now its time for me to try to put something back, and I've pulled together a ramshackle crew taking part in this year's Twickenham dragon boat race with the hope of raising cash for both and the Royal Brompton and the Kingston born too soon fund.

Any donation from you to help both these good causes would be most gratefully accepted.  If you’d like to sponsor us, please visit the websites below and split your donation 50/50 between the two charities.  Donating will only take a minute or so and will make a big difference. 

If the weather's good and you fancy a fun day out by the river (with a great 14th century pub close by) we'd love to see you there. You'll also get a fantastic opportunity to have a good laugh at me in a wet T-shirt. If you're interested, get the train to Richmond and walk the mile or so along the river to Twickenham and you're sure to enjoy.