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AT the end of November I'll be undertaking an six-day trek in Patagonia for Velindre Cancer Centre. The aim is to raise £6,000 for a very important charity which does tremendous work supporting families hit by cancer.
Frequently, what motivates people to get involved with charities such as Velindre, is that their lives have been touched by a life-changing event often due to illness such as cancer.
Cancer hasn't touched me, not directly, but it has had a profound impact on my wife, whose dad, Ben, was taken by cancer. Also, a number of close friends, all in the last 12 months, have had to deal with this devastating illness and I know just how highly they regard the work undertaken by Velindre.
So I can sit around and wait for tragedy to strike again or I can do something.
I would rather do something. Doing nothing will get us nowhere and, quite frankly, is not an option.
The chances of cancer blighting the lives of people I love and care for is high.
A recent report highlights that here in Wales cancer cases continue to rise - with the 2014 figures showing an increase of 12 per cent since 2004.
The largest rises were in the most common cancers - lung, breast, prostate and bowel cancer.
I’m of an age which puts me slap bang in the middle of the prostate cancer demographic, and who knows what years of passive smoking might have done to my lungs.
At the moment I’m fit as a fiddle, and long may that continue, but this isn’t just about me, or you, it’s about all of us, as the figures show.
And just as tragedy may be around the next corner, equally so is a breakthrough in the way we tackle cancer, but those breakthroughs, those advances in treatment and care, can only come about by all of us saying “today is the day I do something”, which is why I'm undertaking this trek and with it a pledge to raise £6,000.
So please give generously, every donation will gratefully received and will be a step to making a difference.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-31116298