As some of you are aware, my father-in-law passed away at the end of July. He had been diagnosed with cancer towards the end of 2017 and spent his last few days at the Royal Trinity Hospice on Clapham Common. He seemed genuinely happy to be there, which was such a huge comfort for the family. I’m not sure anyone could ask for a better place, or for more friendly and welcoming staff. I would like, therefore, to do what I can to raise some funds so that others can continue to make use of its wonderful services. I realise that end-of-life care might not seem an obviously worthwhile cause to support, but it is evident that most of us will be, or have already been, affected in some way by cancer. So, as sad as it is to admit, places like this will continue to be extremely important to sufferers and their families.

In terms of self-humiliation for your amusement, the only (hackneyed) idea that I can think of to inspire your donations is to attempt a half marathon. It is part of a trail running series and the one I will be doing, around Lulworth Cove in Dorset, is rated as a level 5 (out of 5) with extreme terrain. I should point out that I have never run beyond 10km, so the distance, which is actually 26km rather than the usual 21km half marathon, should be sufficiently daunting on its own. Generously however, the organisers have seen fit to add 3,559ft of ascent into the mix. And, thankfully, it’s on the 1^st December when the weather will be perfectly clement with no chance of being lashed in the face by a horizontal rain. If you feel, as I may have done when reading this sort of thing in the past, that this is just an excuse to get fit, please rest assured that I loathe running.

Whether you like the idea of me crawling up a hill in a hailstorm; whether you have no idea who I am and just love giving away all your money; or whether you simply loathe cancer and want to do something to help sufferers and those who support them, any donation would be hugely welcome. I will genuinely be as grateful for 50p as £50, though I don’t want to put off the £50 donators there. You get the idea anyway. Many thanks for all your help. Some info for you on justgiving below and what they do with your donation:

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.