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After a long and courageous battle, Barbara finally succumbed to her illness on 20th June 2018. She will be very much missed not only by me but also her and my family too, as well as countless friends. Can I take this opportunity to thank all of you for your kind messages, cards and phone calls over the last few weeks and months and also thank all of you who took time to visit Barbara in Hospital and/or the care home during her courageous battle.

Last year I undertook a challenge offered to me by my lifelong friend Keith Rotchelle to cycle from London to Brighton. I was not a cyclist and this challenge seemed quite daunting to me especially as I only started practising and preparing for the event (that took place on 19/09/17), two and a half months before it was undertaken, at the beginning of July 2017. I decided straight away to raise money for two Cancer charities chosen by two very close people to me, who had been affected by the disease - my auntie Sadie and also Barbara. With a lot of hard work including some tireless fundraising from Barbara, we managed to raise approximately £1000 split between the Royal Marsden Charity on behalf of auntie Sadie and the UCHL charity on behalf of Barbara. I would like to thank any one reading this who donated last year - it really did make a difference. We successfully completed the ride in safety and good time with Keith and the rest of the team raising also almost £2000 for the JDRF Diabetes charity on behalf of his daughter Sophia. 

After the London to Brighton event last year I realised that I quite enjoyed cycling and decided to keep going with it, especially as it had other benefits for me too, such as keeping me a bit trimmer and fitter. I had a short break from it during the colder parts of the winter but have since managed about 3-4 rides a week of varying lengths with some of the longer ones averaging about 30-40 miles (even a few over 50). Keith felt the same and has also kept up his training to a great extent. With this in mind we decided to enter the London 100 (mile) event taking place in July, but failed to get a place and so had to settle for the London 46 (mile) event instead. We also re entered for the London to Brighton this year taking place in September. Obviously Barbara's cause was the natural choice for the fundraising and it is because of her that I can inspire myself to train long and hard.

Can I take this opportunity to thank Kim as well as  our beautiful and smashing kids Ava and Harrison for all their patience and great support during my cycle training, especially during Barbara’s illness when our lives were literally turned upside down for 3 to 4 months. I also would like to pass on my sincerest condolences to Kim, Dick and Warren for the loss of their special and wonderful Mum and Wife. I know she will be deeply missed by us all. 

We have all decided as a family that we would direct all fundraising for The National Brain appeal, whom are fully aware of this and are extremely grateful in advance for any kind donations. Please take time to visit their website to see what a great cause it is and how completely relevant it is to Barbara's illness.

The National Brain Appeal