Well, it’s taken 20 years for me to get the opportunity of raising funds to thank the NHS for probably saving my life for the umpteenth time and what a way to do it.

Yes, I’m going to throw myself off the top of Clatterbridge Hospital in Liverpool on 7th June and hope somebody’s going to be at the bottom to catch me.

First though let’s go back 20 years to Spring 2006 and things were great, work, family, everything.

I was quite fit then, going to the gym 4 times a week and losing weight, then all of a sudden things went badly wrong.

I was walking across the compound at work and felt the desperate urge to go to the toilet where I passed a huge amount of blood. I went to the doctors who in turn gave me an urgent referral to Carlisle Infirmary where I was diagnosed with having stage 2 bowel cancer and underwent surgery within a couple of weeks which entailed resection with a permanent stoma then concluded with a 6 month chemotherapy course from when I restarted my life to the full.

A while later I enrolled with Carlisle Cancer Volunteer Service (CVS) and Beating Bowel Cancer (later to become Bowel Cancer UK) with the intention of helping prevent it occurring to others by looking for the warning signs and doing something about them at an early stage, ie. unexplained weight loss, blood in poo, irregular bowel habits, stomach inflammation / pain and fatigue. I talked to a couple of guys, attended a few events, did a couple of presentations, stood in Manchester City centre with a t-shirt and bucket raising £54.00 in 4 hrs and then with moving house things just dropped off and I’ve had nothing to do with it since, until now that is.

Cancer creeps up, it doesn’t happen overnight, it goes through stages and the earlier stage it’s caught and treated the greater the chance of recovery……. prevention not detection. I was lucky, so many others aren’t.

This event gives me a fabulous opportunity to finally say thank you to the NHS and raise funds for the thousands of people who are living with cancer right now, to give them the greatest chance of recovery but it needs your support with whatever you see fitting so please, set up a Just Giving page using: Clatterbridge Absail 2026 – JustGiving. Please copy this to anybody you see fit to.

All the very best

Jim

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Join the Clatterbridge Abseil and experience an unforgettable thrill while making a real difference for cancer patients across our region.

Take on the challenge of descending down Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Liverpool, all while raising vital funds for Clatterbridge Cancer Charity. Your support helps provide life-saving treatments, ground-breaking research, and essential care for those affected by cancer.

Whether you’re a thrill seeker looking for a new challenge or wanting to conquer new heights, this is your chance to push your limits and support a truly incredible cause!