On Saturday 4th September I will be cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats in 9 days. 980 miles, averaging around 108 miles each day.

This year I am fundraising for Talan’s Trust, a children’s cancer charity local to Bude.

Talan Penny was diagnosed with an incredibly rare form of cancer called  rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) and died in May 2017. It’s quite likely we met Talan when we stayed at Wooda Campsite, where he worked, when we first started visiting Bude on holiday. In coincidence it was May 2017 when Isabel our daughter was diagnosed with the blood cancer, Leukaemia. Since moving to Bude and having got to know Sarah, Talan’s mum, his friends, teachers from school, and our own families experience of children’s cancer, it means a lot to me to be able to fundraise for this charity.

12 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK every day, and their chances of survival hugely depend on the type of cancer they are diagnosed with. While childhood cancer is rare, it remains the biggest killer of children in the UK and USA, and is responsible for a quarter of children's deaths in Europe.

Children diagnosed with rare forms of cancer are subject to chemotherapy treatments developed for adults in the 1950’s. Since the 1970’s there have only been 3 new treatments introduced especially for children’s cancer treatment, across all the different types of cancer that children can be diagnosed with.

Talan’s Trust is funding research into the type of cancer known as rhabdomyosarcomas, and also plans to provide bereavement counselling for siblings of children diagnosed or who have died from childhood cancer in the 18 to 25 year old age group across Cornwall.

I know 2020 and 2021 have been hard years for everyone, both financially and emotionally, but if you are able to sponsor me and help Talan’s Trust we’ll be able to help find better treatments for rare cancers found in children and young adults.

I’m fully funding this ride myself, and all sponsorship will go directly to Talan’s Trust.