In June I’ll be completing the Mighty Hike in the Lake District – a stunning 26 mile (yes, 26 mile) walk round Ullswater to raise money for Macmillan for a second time!!

My interaction with the very real world of cancer started on 18 July 2018, when I found out I had breast cancer. I went on a whirlwind of appointments, medical procedures and gruelling treatments, while my family and friends supported me. At the end of my treatment in July 2019, I completed my first Mighty Hike, with a band of heroes by my side both walking and supporting and we raised over a massive £11,573.

I'm back again - five years later, feeling like a very different person. The years between treatment and now have been difficult for many people, and not least those who went through treatment during Covid-19. In that respect I was lucky - I got seen, I got treated, and I came out of the other side. Some people and families aren't that lucky and Macmillan are doing everything they can to campaign, support and comfort people through the awful journey that is cancer.

So, five years on, I'm coercing people again to either join me or support me by sponsoring me and help me to help other people who aren't as lucky as I am. You can make a difference.

The money we raise will make a difference to real people. People that have to deal with this brutal journey that takes your soul to places you never thought existed. Nobody should face that journey alone, or without access to experience, advice, information and resources to help you understand what’s happening, navigate that journey and help sort out the practical stuff. That’s what Macmillan Cancer Support does – Macmillan is there to help us find a headscarf, understand how our employers can support us, connect with others going through this, visit those of us who don’t have family nearby, and so much more.

One in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetimes. Hopefully, alongside excellent research and advances in medical marvels, we can make sure that we all have the support we need to make the journey.

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