My story of why I'm doing this and how it affected me is below but the Relay fundraising I'm participating in is a series of events, not just the main Relay For Life event on 11th July (24hr walk incl through night, at Monkton Stadium)...

Pier To Pier Walk 29th March (from Sunderland to South Shields Piers) as in gallery - already completed, https://fb.watch/GEip_ipAY2/

Combatathon on 6th June (Les Mill Body Combat 4hr class), https://tinyurl.com/Combatathon2026

Aquathon on 29th May (4x45min Aquafit): https://tinyurl.com/Aquathon2026

Relay For Life: https://tinyurl.com/RelayForLifeJarrow

As some of you know, I lost both my parents to cancer; my mam, back in 2011 then a few months later my dad in 2012. I don't know anyone who hasn't also lost relatives, friends and colleagues, while supporting them courageously endure what is an horrific disease; some, successfully in remission, others, unfortunately, not so successful.

There's over 200 different cells in the body which means there are over 200 different types of cancer, all of which require funding and research to hopefully find a cure, if not treatments that provide extended lifespans, and allow people to live as normal a lifestyle as possible, while living with the disease.

As part of that work to raise funds, I'm participating with the team in Relay For Life, which celebrates the power of community fundraising to make breakthroughs happen. Across the UK and the globe, teams of friends, families and colleagues fundraise for world-leading research to save and improve lives, then unite at an event to honour everyone affected by cancer and celebrate the progress we’re making to beat it.

Here's how the money you raise powers progress:

£60 could buy a microscope lens, allowing our scientists to focus on the small details that could help us beat cancer.

£2000 could fund the CanRisk project for one day, which is developing a way to accurately predict people's risk of developing cancer so we can spot the disease earlier.

When you fundraise for Relay For Life, you’re helping to bring about a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer. Thank you for your support.

Together we are beating cancer.