Okay people it's time to dig deep because I want it, your money that is, but it's not for me personally, it's for a very worthy cause.

Recently some friends of mine, Alan and Rebecca Forrest, went through one of the worst experiences imaginable when their son Daniel was diagnosed with Muscular Spinal Atrophy. From the time at which Daniel was diagnosed until he sadly died before he reached six months of age, they were supported by a small charity called the Jennifer Trust. The Jennifer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to supporting people with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and researching the causes, treatments and hopefully one day cure for this condition. http://www.jtsma.org.uk/ 

Member's of the charity were personally there for Alan and Rebecca throughout and we'd like to repay them so they can help other families who find themselves in the Forrest's position.

This is where you come in, I'd like you to sponsor me an obscene amount of money and in return I'll put myself through an obscene amount of personal anguish and torture. That's right, I'll visit the North of England, and what's more, I'll actually stay there for two whole days.

Of course I wouldn't undertake a venture as dangerous as that on my own, they'll be around fifteen of us (safety in numbers), and to pass the time we plan to cycle from the West coast to the East coast, a simple matter of dragging two vehicles, fifteen bicycles, and 1,250Kg of human tissue across 140 miles of highly uncompromising terrain inside 48 hours. I know what you're thinking, and you're right, it's hardly the Tour de France, but then, I'm not exactly Lance Armstrong people.

It's proving hard enough to solve the logistics of actually getting everything there to start the bike ride, so how we'll cope when we actually set off remains to be seen, but it will all be worth it if we can raise stacks of cash for the Jennifer Trust.

For those of you who know more than one person who's foolish enough to attempt this trip and can't decide who to sponsor, and for those of you who just like to cause additional suffering in a fellow human, as an added incentive to 'choose me' for every multiple of £100 I'm sponsored up to my target, I'll carry an extra half a kilo of weight over the whole distance. So if I hit my fundraising target I'll be carrying the equivalent of 5 litres of water, or as a friend put it, a massive Christmas turkey, crazy huh.