On the 11th of February this year my nephew Luke Blackbourn passed away very suddenly at the age of just 23.  

Luke became ill during the night after suffering a bleed on the brain, we now know this was something called arteriovenous malformation, or AVM, which are a problem of the vascular system. An AVM is something very rare, less than 1% of the population, and unfortunately there was nothing the staff in the intensive care unit at the Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham could do to save Luke.

On Saturday 25th June 2016 Luke's younger brother Wesley Blackbourn (13), his good friend Conor Lloyd (13), his cousins Mia Cantillon (8) and Eleanor Cantillon (5) and myself Chris Cantillon are riding the 10.5 mile Innes England City Ride Nottingham. 

The following day myself, Darren Leivers and Oliver Roberts are cycling the 100 mile Little John Great Notts Bike Ride.

We know that if Luke is looking down on us now he would be very proud and pleased to know that we want to give something back to help research into AVM. 

We are raising money for The Butterfly AVM Charity whose aims are -

To raise much needed funds for specific research into peripheral, brain & extremity AVMs (Arteriovenous Malformations) with the aim to improve treatments and find a cure.
To raise awareness about AVMs.
To support AVM sufferers and their families
To inform AVM sufferers about new treatments and establish a comprehensive list of treatment centres, specialist interventional radiologists, surgeons & doctors.

We don't want other families to go through the pain and heartache our families have been through this year.  Please help us achieve that goal for a very worthy cause which is close to our heart, and thank you for your support.

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.