In honour of my father, I will be cycling 120km (75 miles) from Bowling to Edinburgh across the entirety of both the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals. All money raised will go directly to Kidney Care UK to ensure that anyone who finds themselves in the same position as my Dad has all the support they need.

My Dad, Desmond Peter Henaghen, passed away on the 10th January after more than a decade battling against kidney failure. He endured years of being stuck in the hospital on haemodialysis, tried at home peritoneal dialysis and endured the operation for a kidney transplant that sadly failed way too soon. He died at Monklands Hospital after his heart just couldn't take any more, surrounded by his loving friends and family. He was only 55.

In the years before his death my Dad discovered a love for canal boating - a passion he kept secret from everyone. I only found out as he used my YouTube account to watch the vlogs! After so many years enduring the physically and mentally exhausting haemodialysis at the hospital, his motivation to keep going was running thin, so we came up with a plan: if he could endure Dialysis long enough to get a kidney transplant then him, my wife Ira and I would rent a canal boat in England and spend a few weeks travelling the canals to celebrate. It was one of the dreams he clung on to right until the very end.

Unfortunately he never did get that transplant and was unable to go on that trip. He did, however, get to experience being the captain of his own canal Boat last summer for his birthday. We hired a canal from Linlithgow and were able to spend the entire day piloting it down the Union Canal to the Falkirk Wheel and back. The main picture of this page was taken from that day, mere moments before he crashed the boat into the embankment!

So to honour my late father's life and dreams, I will be embarking on a challenge to cycle the 120km (75 miles) from Bowling to Edinburgh across the entirety of both the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals. This will include detours down to Port Dundas and up to the Kelpies to include every single inch of the canals.

The longest cycle I have ever managed was a 43km (27 miles) jaunt through the back roads of South Lanarkshire that ended with me free wheeling from East Kilbride to our home in Hamilton as my legs had given out entirely. So fair to say I'll need to train for this!