I'm raising funds to show support to a very special friend of mine, Laura McLean who has been diagnosed with Stage 2B cervical cancer. 

Laura is a 40 year old beautiful woman who lives life to the full.  Her partner John, stepson, family and friends are her whole world.

Laura has dedicated her life to care for children by working an early years nursery teacher. 

She's such a special person, loving, caring and bubbly. So to have the choice taken away from her that she will never be able to have a family of her own has been the most heartbreaking thing to watch Laura go through. Laura dreamt all her life of being a Mum and it breaks my heart that this horrible disease has snatched the opportunity away from her.

After a routine smear test showed abnormalities, Laura's life was thrown into chaos after having a biopsy of the cervix on the 21st of September. It was confirmed a couple of weeks later that Laura had cancer. 

Laura has now endured 5 rounds of chemo, 30 radiotherapy and 4 invasive Brachytherapy sessions in order to try to rid her body of this horrible disease. 

Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust has played a huge part in Laura's journey. Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust (LCCT) is a voluntary organisation managed by a board of trustees who’s aims and objectives are to provide support for cancer sufferers and their families. LCCT offers patients and their carers living in the NHS Lanarkshire area free transport to hospitals for life-saving treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy ;
specialist clinic appointments for follow-up consultations;
complimentary and alternative therapies centres promoting better health and wellbeing; and day care facilities.
All LCCT drivers (with over 100 registered) give their time voluntarily and LCCT’s valuable service currently relies on donations and fundraising to meet the costs of nominal mileage claims. An average of 80 patients are transported to clinics and hospitals on a daily basis. LCCT volunteer drivers help to reduce the stress and anxiety facing patients by providing a reliable, friendly, confidential and supportive service.

The service these guys have provided has been invaluable in helping Laura attend her treatment sessions. 

Therefore I am trying to raise funds to support the amazing work they do. On the 10th February 2018 I will be having my hair cut off. Anyone who knows me will know that I've always had long hair, so if I can do this small thing to support my friend in her journey and this amazing charity then I'll be happy. 

My hair will then be donated to The Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments. 

All donations and sponsorships will be so gratefully received. So dig deep people and help us raise funds. 

Most families these days have been affected by cancer in some way. Cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women based on global stats, with more than 527,000 new cases being diagnosed every year (8% of all female cancer cases). It claims more than 265,000 lives a year.

Please help us raise awareness by encouraging all women to attend routine smear tests. It's so important and really could save their life. 

Thanks so much for reading, anything you can spare to donate will go a long way to helping fight this awful disease.