Thank you so much for bouncing on over to my JustGiving in Lizzy B's page.

I appreciate that so many of you already provided endless support, love, shoulders to cry on & hard-earned cash for charity during the last six months - so, although I'm reluctant & a wee bit embarressed to ask you to dig deep yet again, I'm going to anyway (bah!) because we Bremer's are on a mission.

In January of this year, we were hit with a double wammy: my precious niece - who was only aged 18 months at the time - & our English Mum, Jill, were both diagnosed with cancer...in the same week...!  

Lizzy was diagnosed with a rare case of Aggressive Neuroblastoma. She spent so much of the last 6 months at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) & I cannot quite put into words how terrifying & heartbreaking it is to see someone you love so much at the mercy of strangers - & yet all the staff are well equipped for family panics, tears & sadness & carried my brother & my sister in law, & indeed all of us, through this ordeal with a gentleness & understanding that no pay-packet could possibly compensate.

I was truly humbled to meet other young patients on their wards: brave, sweet little faces wandering the wards attached to their chemo drips. I was also so impressed with the way the hospital caters to families who need to stay with the children & their siblings who can find the situation either scary or sometimes even quite boring - fitness classes, school room classes, volunteer entertainers, clean well stocked playrooms in every ward, kitchens - but they need funds to keep their good work going, they really do, so if you can find any spare change no matter how big or small, please please do throw it their way via our fundraising page.

We already raised £16,000 for GOSH through our Team Lizzy B run in June (thank you) & Mimi has raised £16,000 for the Neuroblastoma Society. Les Miserables raised another (approx) £16000 & Jill raised a further £3000 through her Salcome rowing triathlon team. Donat Clough completed a triathlon & Jeannie a 24 hour race. Caroline even sold popsicals & made a cool £100....

If you do decide to sponsor me, please bear in mind 2 things:

1. I haven't run a 1/2 marathon for a good few years, so this really is going to be a challenge (yikes) & I'm not even close to ready.

2. By sponsoring this page - our charitable donation is given IN LIZZY B'S NAME - which is really cool, I think! :)

If any of you didn't know, Lizzy, my beautiful, beautiful niece, passed away 2 days after her 2nd birthday on the 5th July. You can see, however, she's truly left an incredible legacy in her wake & continues to shine & inspire us all.  

Jill is currently undergoing chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy & tells us the doctors (who tell her to rest & do nothing) don't know what they're talking about, she was off rowing with her pals the last time I spoke to her! :)  But, for the record, the next event (after this) I do will be to kick Breast Cancer's ass! So...watch this space!

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.

Thank you for reading my story & for donating - it's time cancer got the message, don't you think?!

Over & out - R xx