Hi everyone,

To support an amazing children's charity, and partly to cope with recently turning 40, I'm taking part in the Rainbow Trust’s Triple Adventure Challenge in late April.

Whilst celebrating my 40th birthday I reflected on how incredibly lucky I am to have two amazing, and healthy, daughters. Unfortunately, there are nearly 90,000 children in England with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. This number has trebled over the last 17 years and is rising. Support for the Rainbow Trust will help link families with an expert Family Support Worker, enabling them to make the most of the time they have together and providing practical and emotional support.

I'm aiming to cycle 50km across the Lake District's biggest hills, canoe 3km across a windy Ullswater Lake, then hike to the summit of Hellvelyn (England's third highest peak) and back - as quickly as possible. My biggest challenge will be completing the course with 5 other friends whose knees and organisation skills are arguably worse than my own.

Our challenges will pale in comparison to the thousands of families that have to cope with seriously ill children - I would be very grateful for any support you can provide, and I promise to share the photos regardless of how terribly we fare.

Thank you so much in advance and very much looking forward to it!

Matt