I'm 44, a father of two wonderful children and a husband to a lovely wife.

I'm ill, but not terminally.  I have been overweight for so long I've ended up with diabetes, angina, high blood pressure, and done damage to my joints.  However, none of these are set to kill me anytime soon.

I am determined to get better, to give myself the best chance I can of being here for many years to come, and to carry on being a good father and a husband.

MY AIM TO LOSE AT LEAST 5 STONES BY THE END OF APRIL 2015

Sadly, for 2 good friends of mine, this isn't an option.

Adrian Tunney died in 2006 at the age of 43 from Leukaemia.  Ade was a very good friend of mine and I was with him when he fell ill.  He went from watching a match and celebrating a brilliant night when Middlesbrough came back to beat Basel in the UEFA Cup, to feeling ill and in his words "lifeless" in 24 hours.  Sadly he died 3 months later, leaving behind a young son.

Frank Doran was a friend of mine from Bootle.  I really liked Frank, and we always had a good laugh.  However, Frank was taken away from all of us following a long and brave battle with Lymphoma earlier this year. 

Just like Ade, he was forced to leave behind a family and the lovely Gerry.  It was heartbreaking and Frank was much loved by so many people.

So losing good friends in their 40s to these illnesses, I wanted to do something to not only give my kids the best shot of having a dad in the long term, but also to raise money for the charity who can fight these killers.

Please give what you can, and don't forget to tick the Gift Aid option too.

I'll be posting my progress on my Facebook page, and through my blog http://the-tangent-wordsmith.blogspot.co.uk/

Also you can follow me on twitter, @tangent69, and the hashtag for this will be #losingitforfrank

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.