*The date I am running is the 18th of May not the 12th of May.

Colour runs, like life are full of joy - however the main reason behind me doing this is to raise awareness for the lack of research into brain tumours.

My beautiful auntie Kathy died 10 and a half years ago from a glioblastoma multiforme as did Ollie, my boyfriend’s younger brother, 11 years ago. Ollie and Alfie’s parents and family started the Ollie Young Foundation and have tirelessly continued to raise money for the Institute of Cancer Research in London to find a cure or a prevention from this awful disease, and have previously funded the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences at Portsmouth University. On top of the Research into Brain Tumours, the Ollie Young Foundation provides financial support to Young Lives vs Cancer to support other families.

I am doing this run to try and highlight how important this research is and to contribute to this amazing charity. Brain Tumours kill more children than leukaemia or any other cancer, kill more women under 35 than breast or any other cancer, kill more men under 45 than prostate or any other cancer, and are the main cancer killer of people under 40. 16,000 people are diagnosed with a primary, malignant brain tumour each year. When other types of brain tumour are factored in, this number will be anything up to 3 times greater.  For brain cancer patients the five-year survival rate is just 14% and up to 40% of all cancers spread to the brain.  However, brain tumour research receives only 0.7% of UK national cancer research spending. The laboratory-based element of that is even less.

So this is for you Auntie Kathy and Ollie 💙 and there will be much more to come x