Dear friends and kind strangers,

We’re raising money to support our great friend Matt, who has an inoperable, cancerous brain tumour. Matt is undergoing chemotherapy, but something that is under-recognised – and underfunded – is the emotional and psychological support someone in his situation needs.

Matt doesn’t know how long he has left to live, how much or how quickly his health will deteriorate, and what this future will look like. He has recently been affected by seizures and all this is on top of many years of suffering as a result of ME/CFS (and no doubt the effects of the tumour which he may have had for 5 years or more).

He has a young family and has already lost a lot of independence – he can no longer drive and struggles in areas that many people would consider routine and take for granted.

The majority of the money we raise is likely to go towards counselling for Matt but there are also some logistical areas it could contribute towards such as transport to various appointments, for which Matt often relies on favours.

Adam and I know a little extra suffering from us may help encourage your donations, so we will be riding our bikes on the 170km (105-mile) journey – in one hit – to the City Ground, the home of Matt's beloved Nottingham Forest, on the day of their first match of the new Premier League football season on August 16. Neither of us have been riding much recently, so it's going to hurt in unmentionable places in ways that will make us question why we are doing it for at least 140 of those 170km.

We won’t be taking out anything to fund the trip – not even for Adam’s Bum Butter (other anti-chafing creams are available) – it will all go directly to Matt, and we will be making our own contributions to get the ball rolling.

We have set a target for how much we want to raise but really it is open-ended. Every donation will make an instant and meaningful difference; and if you could share on social media, WhatsApp groups, at work or anywhere else to boot, we would be immensely grateful!

As anyone who knows Matt will be well aware, he has a way of connecting with people that is truly special. He has touched a lot of lives – let’s get the message out to all those people so they can give a little back.