As many of you know, on Monday 13th January my dad suffered a stroke in his sleep. As a result, he lost a lot of his speech and for a man you could kindly describe as 'verbose' his sudden silencing was a shock to us all - even if it meant we could finally get a word in!

As the days have passed his speech has slowly started to return, mainly due to his sheer bloody determination, and he's now able to hold conversations, give us some cheek and sing 'I Want to Break Free' - which I'm hoping the medical staff on the ward are taking in good spirit.

To echo the effort he's putting in, this February I'm participating in "Swim for Stroke" to raise awareness and funds for the Stroke Association. My goal is to swim 7 miles across the course of the month and raise £500 to help ensure that more individuals receive the support they need on their journey to recovery.

If you have a couple of quid that you can spare and would like to chuck it my way then I'd really appreciate it. Similarly, if you are a mysterious wealthy benefactor that would like to dump a truck load of golden coins into my sponsorship page then please feel free.

Thanks so much!