I support Teddy20, a Blandford based charity that supports families of children with cancer. The charity is run at very little cost with no full time staff. All money raised goes to support those with children affected by cancer.

I have volunteered at the annual Teddy Rocks music festival for the past 4 years. It is a fantastic family friendly annual 3 day music festival, run by volunteers with the support of local businesses, who donate their profits at the festival to this worthy cause.

Last year I got to know the organisation more closely when I participated in the 2024 Le Teddy Tour. A group of us cycled along the WW1 Western Front covering 400 miles in 4 days.

One of the support team on Le Teddy Tour is Owen Newton, the father of Ted Newton, who was sadly lost to cancer at a very young age. The Newton family are inspirational. Having lost their son they set up Teddy20 to support other families having children with cancer. The Blandford local community are very supportive of the charity.

I have volunteered at a number of their fundraising events over the past year, including the Teddy Bear parachute, Spetisbury Village Fete and the Tractor Pull Challenge.

This year we are cycling 400-450 miles in 4 days following following the route that the allied troops took in operation Market Garden to Arnhem during WW2. 100% of funds raised go to supporting families who have children with cancer. Each cyclist pays for his own accomodation, food and travel costs.

Here is the background from the Newton family -

"In 2010 we lost our beautiful boy Ted, after an immense battle with a very rare form of bone cancer, Ewings Sarcoma. We set up Teddy20 in memory of our Son, so that we could provide some of the same support that was given to our family during the hardest time of our lives.

Teddy20 became a registered charity in 2014 and since then, with your support, we have continued to grow as a community based charity providing emotional and financial support to hundreds of children, young people and their families across the Wessex Region."