After seeing my brother when he was only 14 go through lots  and lots of treatment for a very long time as none of us were a match for bone marrow, it was unbearable at times but we had to be strong (in front of him) as he was so courageous and he really got on with it, he was unbelievably strong and just a teenager.  He survived and I am so very grateful that he did, and it is thanks to the treatment, the Dr's, Nurses, and all of the Staff that he, like so many are still here.  However, there were times when we would visit him and some children wouldn't be there and at first I used to think that they had been moved or gone home and some had however, some were not there because they didn't survive and it is heartbreaking as well as worrying, thinking will it be my brother next, we were lucky, he was lucky, he survived and I always said that I wanted to raise money for a Children's Cancer charity by running the London Marathon and 28 years later that is what I am doing on Sunday 2nd October 2022.

At Children with Cancer UK they actively raise and invest money for vital specialist research to save the lives of every child with cancer and keep their family together. Their vision is a world where every child diagnosed with cancer gets to ring their end of cancer treatment bell.

Here is a link to one of the Charities videos, which really sums up what they have achieved over the years and why it is so important if people an donate so that they can keep funding research so that one day every child with a cancer diagnosis survives https://youtu.be/bObFR9gRZ68ith 

Children with Cancer UK have been fortunate to have been partnered with Beads of Courage UK for the past few years.  At every stage of treatment, children and young people in 100's of childhood cancer wards across the UK receive a new Bead of Courage.  

The Beads join together to form (often long) physical representations of their journey, keeping a record of every hospital trip and treatment on their courageous journey.

The Beads of Courage help to decrease illness-related distress and give the children a way to recognise and talk about their cancer journey.

Each Bead a child receives has it's own story, for example a yellow bead is for an overnight stay in hospital and a white bead is for a course of chemotherapy.

These beads are made available to some of us running for the charity to be worn on marathon day, Sunday 2nd October 2022, on our trainers, a bracelet or necklace, however we choose.

Then a bead that we have worn will be sent to a child being treated with cancer, once we've completed the marathon.  I need to raise the money by Thursday 1st September 2022 and really appreciate all of your help in supporting me in raising money for this amazing charity.

The Charity Fighting Childhood Cancer | Children with Cancer UK

Please also see beadsofcourageuk.org

Thank you from the bottom of my heart xx