I'm running in Cancer Research UK's Race for Life in memory of my uncle Johnny Curran, who died of lung cancer.

He was an intelligent and sensitive soul who wanted to share art and music with the world, who made me a mix tape of Nick Drake and Françoise Hardy, and who asked me to read from the Tibetan Book of the Dead to him while he was in the hospice. So, hey. It would mean a great deal to me if people would sponsor me to participate in this event (and if you're a UK taxpayer remember to tick the Gift Aid box).

According to Cancer Research UK, your donation could do the following things:

• £10 buys enough glass slides for a scientist to examine 300 tumour samples.
• £100 equips four scientists with lab coats and safety googles.
• £500 funds one cancer information nurse for a day.
• £1000 covers the basic costs for ten women to take place in a clinical trial improving prognosis for post-menopausal women with early-stage breast cancer.

It may be more exciting or sexy to say "£10 cures one person of cancer forever" but the reality is that cancer is an insidious and complicated disease which requires careful scientific study to develop treatments and cures. We need to push back, little by little, and the £250 I have set as a fundraising target will make a big difference. The fact is that if I could go back and time and give £250 to my uncle Johnny for treatment it would not save his life; but if I can raise £250 now that money could help fund studies into new detection and treatment programmes which will save many more lives in the future.

Locally, three London universities (including UCL) house Cancer Research UK centres; UCL focuses on brain tumours, ovarian and blood cancers, and the lung cancer Johnny died of. Across London research is being done into how normal cells become cancerous, and into breast, bowel, prostate, cervical, and testicular cancer.

So, hey. Anything that you can give towards my target or anything you can do to help publicise it would mean a lot and in return I promise to do my best in this run to make it all worthwhile. Thanks guys!