The Challenge - message from Gemma

Myself, Luke Nicholls, Lee Addington, Jen Wall, Matt Kendall, Jodie Berry & Jack Alkhalil) have rather foolishly signed up to cycle 100 miles as part of the Ford Ride London event on 26th May.

You may have seen marketing have kindly turned all our faces into a bike and stuck posters up with a QR code around the office (Thank you Alyse 😊)

We have all had to learn the daunting skill of using cleats (which is a danger to mankind!!), invested a lot in getting the right gear and a huge amount of time and effort training through the rain, wind, sun and everything in between. Because of our clashing work patterns most of us have had to train on our own too which is honestly soul destroying. We’ve had injuries, crashes and belly laughs along the way and as a team have covered around 4,500 miles which would get us from the office to Turkey and back again (which seems insane!).

All the donations we’ve received so far have motivated us all to keep going and now we are reaching out to see if we can have one last push to raise another £707 and hit our combined fundraising target of £5,000!

Prevent Breast Cancer is a charity that was introduced to Alison and I by our friends at The Mortgage Store as I was coming to the end of my treatment last year, we went to visit their HQ in Manchester and learnt all about the incredible work they are doing. It is so unusual for two colleagues who work so closely together to have been diagnosed with the same cancer and to have gone through treatment (at the same clinic!) less than 2 years apart so I’m sure you can all appreciate just how much this charity and the work they are doing means to us as a team. Having an amazing support network around us and access to healthcare through work so we could be treated quickly was an absolute god send. Many don’t have this, and the NHS just aren’t as equipped as they could be to diagnose people early or offer preventive treatment if they are high risk. Every £1 we raise will go towards a new National Breast Imaging Academy, this cutting-edge building will allow additional capacity for research into breast cancer diagnosis, prevention and treatment and will enable an extra 13,000 patients to be seen each year for breast screening.

I appreciate we all have lots of fundraising and charity work going on, but any amount you can spare would be appreciated whole heartedly and will keep us motivated through the next couple of weeks and on the day!

About Prevent Breast Cancer

Prevent Breast Cancer is the only UK charity entirely dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer were committed to freeing the world from the disease altogether. Unlike many cancer charities, were focused on preventing, rather than curing. Promoting early diagnosis, screening and lifestyle changes, we believe we can stop the problem before it starts. And being situated at the only breast cancer prevention centre in the UK, were right at the front-line in the fight against the disease.