UPDATE 07/12/14 - The total raised now includes a very welcome £750 donated by Barclays through their matched fundraising scheme for employees and pensioners. Thanks to Barclays and to everyone else who's supported me in this. Challenge for Life has now become Challenge Cancer UK, to give a clearer message as to what it's about - please follow the links on this page for more information.

As it's now a couple of years since my last challenge, in Iceland, I've decided it's time for another! This time, in November 2014, I'll be trekking about 100km in the Sahara Desert, to raise money for Challenge for Life.

Challenge for Life has evolved from the Elise for Life campaign, which many of you supported so generously through sponsorship of my Iceland trek, and succeeded in beating its £1 million fund raising target for cancer care and research at the Christie. Challenge for Life is now a national charity, raising funds for cancer awareness, prevention, and research, in partnership not only with the Christie, but with many of the other leading cancer charities - see http://www.challengeforlife.org/ for more information.

I will be meeting all of the costs of this challenge myself, so ALL sponsorship raised will go to the charity. Thank you in anticipation for your generous support!

I have a long way to go between now and November to get fit enough, and lose all the weight I've put on since I went to Iceland ;-) Watch this space for updates.

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.