A year ago, Jay, who at that time was working as a manager at Rag & Bone, organised with his team a special event at their store in central London. That day they met George McCarthy who attended the event with his father Mike.

Upon arrival in store it was apparent that George was not feeling too well and that his condition was not so great. Despite George going through treatment for a very complex form of leukeamia that was terminal, his spirit was extremely high and his outlook on life was incredibly positive. Jay and his team wanted to make George feel as comfortable as possible and he thoroughly enjoyed his day in store. He met all of the team including the CEO and founder of the company, Marcus Wainwright.

Once the event had finished and it was time to say goodbye to George, there was a real sense of appreciation in the air at the fact that they had just met such a special young boy. The whole team felt honoured to have hosted George and his father Mike.

A week went by and on the 20/07/2018 Jay received an email from George's father. George had sadly lost his battle against leukeamia and had passed away at home peacefully, surrounded by his family.

The team felt touched by this incredibly sad loss of life. They thought that there had to be some way they could honour this young boys life and do something positive for his family as well as every other family in the world going through a similar situation.

So Jay and his team organised a 14km run in Hyde Park in September 2018 to raise funds for leukaemia research in memory of George McCarthy. They decided to run 14km as this was George's age when he passed away. The event went really well and raised £1,100 for Leuka, the leading leukaemia research charity in the UK.

Following last years success, Jay decided to organise the event again this year on Sunday 21st July 2019. The challenge will take place in Hyde Park with a 14 km route that you can walk, run or cycle.

Entry is free. Participants who raise over £50 will receive a free Leuka running vest.

On average 27 people in UK are diagnosed with leukaemia every day, that's more than one every hour.

13 people die every day in UK from leukaemia and unfortunately just 52% of leukaemia patients will reach five years after diagnosis.

Leukaemia is most common type of cancer in children and it is most common in people over the age of 55

Currently only 50 % of stem cell transplant patients survive after five years

More research needs to be done. Leuka's medical research programme funds projects which advance our understanding of the causes and mechanisms of leukaemia, and provide the evidence needed to develop kinder, more effective treatments for leukaemia.