A friend of mine, Iain Lowe, has recently battled and won against throat cancer. He is known for his sartorial elegance and has dared me to dye my beard blue with semi-permanent dye, in return for which he will donate £100 to the charity of my choice.

You can see Iain with his beard (not as grand as mine!) in this fetching shade in the gallery pictures.

5 years ago I lost my lovely Mum Pat to colon cancer. She wasn't as fortunate as Iain. The whole experience was terrible, but was made much less painful by Kate's Home Nursing, a local charity who provide palliative care in the home. As this happened in lockdown, going to a hospice wasn't practical and Mum was happy to end her days at home.

I would like to use Iain's challenge to raise as much as possible for Kate's, who rely on charitable donations to provide staff, equipment and medical supplies to ease the last days of their patients.