To raise money for Anthony Nolan, I've roped in various friends to suffer through cycling 100 miles with me on the 12th July, all of us on Bromptons. 100 miles is a challenge at the best of times; the Bromptons' teeny wheels and lack of gears will make it a challenge and a half.

I'll be riding with Joe Muldoon, Chris Walsh, Mark and Liz Clayton, James Dyer and Patrick Tribe... Possibly others if I can persuade them!

My dad, Barry Norris, died in March 2024, age 66, from complications of lymphoma. (He's the picture on the left.)

He was great. I know loads of people will say that about their dads but he was fantastic on multiple levels. He was witty, funny, sporty, loving and clever and ridiculous. I can't condense into a short couple of lines just how enormous a character he was. He loved his family, and books and poetry, Wales, writing, walking, Springsteen, cycling - especially cycling on his beloved Brompton.

It's possible that not everyone knows what a Brompton is. It's a little bike that folds up, the idea being that you can easily chuck it in the boot of the car or carry it on the train and bring it up to your office. They have up to six gears (depending which version you have), small wheels and an unusual geometry. Primarily known as a quirky, beloved commuting bikes, they have quite the cult following but they're mostly used for riding shortish distances. Dad adored his. Of all his bikes, I think that was the one I saw him on the most and the one that he so visibly got the most joy from. What better way to celebrate his memory than riding 100 miles on his most beloved bike?

For the last year of dad's life he knew that his only hope was a donor stem cell transplant and it was this thought that kept him going. It was a difficult road to get to the point where he could even have a stem cell transplant, but he did receive his transplant on 23 February 2024 in Hammersmith Hospital. The donor was a perfect match, a young man living in the USA, and an Anthony Nolan volunteer went to collect the stem cells and bring them back to London in, as dad described it "like a Deliveroo bag." He was so positive the day the donor cells went in, joking about his new American DNA and playing Born In The USA on repeat. He had worked hard to stay strong and fit. Unfortunately he contracted an infection and despite the best efforts of the team in intensive care he did not recover.

In the run up and aftermath of his death, we all drew immense comfort and reassurance from the kindness and generosity of the Anthony Nolan volunteers, and especially the young donor and volunteer courier. Without that hope, there wouldn't have been much to hold on to.

I'm lucky to know so many slightly unhinged people I can rope into doing this challenge with me. These include some of my lovely colleagues, who I didn't really give much choice in the matter. And also my friend Mark, whose son, Nick Clayton (pictured on the right above), died aged 23 from complications arising from lymphoma, which rendered him too unwell to survive a stem cell transplant. Nick wouldn't have actually needed Anthony Nolan for a transplant as his sister was an unlikely perfect match. But in the four months between being taken ill and his death in May 2021 Nick fundraised considerable amounts for Anthony Nolan. Nick was also an avid, evangelical cyclist and I'm sure he would have been verily easily persuaded to ride 100 miles on a Brompton for this cause! As a tribute to Nick, we will be riding through and stopping in St Nicholas, to toast energy gels in his honour.

Anthony Nolan’s world-leading stem cell register, groundbreaking cell and gene therapy research and expertise in stem cell transplants means they currently help four patients a day in need of a transplant, giving more people another chance to live. But we know we can, and must, do more. Driven by patients, backed by stem cell donors, powered by science, and with your support, we won’t stop until we’ve uncovered the lifesaving potential of the cells inside us all, and every patient can survive and thrive.