This year one of my closest friends (aka little sis) Jo Edwards was catapulted into a world where we all dread- the big C!!

Her scrumptious 4 year old was diagnosed with Leukaemia and her world as she knew it was blown into fragments of fear, uncertainty, hospital visits, lumbar punctures and chemotherapy.

As a friend, I felt totally helpless! Yes, when we were able to catch up we had coffee, gin, tears and laughter. But, I wanted to do something else. So I joined Lawley Running Club and signed up for the couch to 5k, this was for my own sanity (dealing with perimenopausal crap!) and with the intention to do a 10k run for Tommy-God help me!!!!

To my utter surprise, I loved the running and met a gorgeous, new friend Kate Prentice. And, by the end of the nine weeks we were running 5k, three times a week, whatever the weather.

Then illness, Covid and work hindered our way, so we haven't ran together since the end of October!

Anyhow, we are aiming to run 50 miles across January to raise money. Our JustGiving page is being set up and we are hoping that you will sponsor us to complete our challenge. If everyone on my friends list donated a £1 we would have over £500.

So this afternoon after waking up at midday, I dusted the cobwebs off my trainers and luckily found my L and R running socks!

We managed 5 miles, so only 45 left!!!

A bit about the charity below:

Prevent ALL Charitable Trust

Our mission is to:

1. Preventing Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in children globally, by supporting the research, development, testing and rollout of a preventative treatment.

2. Supporting children and their families undergoing treatment for Leukaemia and other blood cancers.

Tommy was diagnosed with ALL aged 4 and we found ourselves in the hospital ward you walked past at hospital that you never wanted to be in! He is now 8 months into his 3-year treatment programme, a daily mix of Chemotherapy and Steroids, regular Lumbar Punctures.

The good news is that there is a treatment but the treatment is toxic. Tommy is one of the lucky ones in that he is on the lightest treatment plan. This illness also has an emotional impact on the child and the family and needs massive medical resources.

Facts

• About 75% of childhood Leukaemia is ALL

• 800 children a year in the UK are diagnosed with ALL

• 3,500 children a year in the US are diagnosed with ALL

• Rates of ALL in the west are increasing at c.1% per year

Prevention & Support

Professor Sir Mel Greaves and his team at the Institute of Cancer Research are developing a preventative treatment that could eliminate ALL in Children.

We are aiming to help fund that research and development so that children don’t have to go through the toxic treatment that Tommy is.

Our second goal is to help the families that are currently going through treatment, to help make their lives a little more bearable.

Thank you for any donation you can make.

Love Jo, Chris, George, Henry & Tommy xx