My friends, Dan and Jess Chippendale, are lucky enough to have two fabulous kids; Willow and Albie. Willow was born with a rare and potentially fatal neuromuscular condition called spinal muscular atrophy type two which causes weakness of the muscles. This means that she has never had the use of her legs and has limited use of the muscles in her arms and back. Dan, Jess, Willow and Albie have worked tirelessly to raise money for the constant requirements of Willow's life. As she is a growing child those requirements constantly change and are significantly more costly due to her condition. As she grows she needs a new wheelchair for every four year period of her life. On top of all the birthday presents, Christmas presents, after-school clubs, sweets, chocolates, school uniform and shoes that all kids need, a £20,000 wheelchair might just be a tad hard to squeeze into the monthly budget.

So instead of raising money for a charity which won't directly assist Willow, I am raising money to help buy her a new wheelchair by completing a triathlon. This will take place on Sunday 16th September in Brighton. For those of you unenlightened on the fundamentals of triathlons, they involve three disciplines; swimming, cycling and running, and the hard part is they all follow directly one after the other. The even harder part is that the swim will be in the sea in Brighton. My only ever foray off the coast of Brighton has been to gamble money in the arcades and sink (poor choice of verb) a beer or two in the pub at the end of the Palace Pier. Swimming through the choppy, sloppy waves of the English Channel will be a very new experience. I sincerely urge you to come and witness this rather ludicrous event, for three reasons; (1) because I will need the support and the warmth (literally) from you all, (2) so that you can have a jolly good laugh at my expense and (3) to verify that I'm as good as my word and have completed the task as stated.