Oh here we go again. We're doing Dumball.

For Antony and me, this will be our fourth Dumball Rally. For Rob, this is a brand new adventure. For all of us, this will be our last Dumball.

What is Dumball? It's a week long, somewhat organised, drive through various countries. Cars are cheap (under £500), are decorated ridiculously, and fancy dress is mandatory for the duration. There are 150 people taking part this year in 50 cars. The journey is 3,000 miles long and ends in Majorca. It's not big and it's definitely not clever.

We're raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust. Why, you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked.

On my first Dumball, we were told this was the charity the organisers support. I didn't understand much about it at the time, but you can't take part in the rally if you don't raise money for charity. So that's what I did.

During the rally, and the following two rallies, I met people who have been impacted by the work they've done. I've met adults who went through Cancer treatment as teenagers, parents who have gone through it with them, and parents who have lost children to Cancer.

Young adults who are diagnosed with Cancer often lose their formative years to the disease. In some cases they are isolated on wards, unable to see friends and take part in 'normal' teenage activities. Hospitals have children's wards, but these don't really cater to the older children and younger adults. Teenage Cancer Trust bring a sense of normality to these people, with dedicated areas on wards for teenagers and activities for them to take part in. To be honest, that doesn't even scratch the surface, but it gives you an idea of the work they do.

I've seen the importance of their work first hand. I was unfortunate enough to be one of those parents who was told "your child has Cancer" in 2020, when Maxwell was diagnosed with Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma. He was 6 at the time so Lego, toy dinosaurs and a Disney film on the TV was all he could have wanted when he was in hospital. But you look around the children's ward and see older patients, to whom this bears no resemblance to their normal life. I can't stress how important the work Teenage Cancer Trust do is to these young men and women.

Max is doing great by the way! Four years clear! 🥳 Thank you so much to all the people who helped us through that difficult time. And to those who helped us raise money for Macmillan and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

So why is this our last Dumball Rally? Because it's the last Dumball Rally. After (I think) twelve Dumballs, covering most of Europe (including Ukraine), India, Mexico, and the Sahara Desert, the organisers have decided to hang up their fancy dress and call it quits, after raising a staggering £1.1 million for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Please help me make that total even greater.

We are team Out Run, loosely based on the 1986 Sega game of the same name. We've got an outrageous Cadillac to do-up. Antony, Rob and me will keep you all updated on our epic journey.

All costs for the rally are covered by the participants, so 100% of all donations go straight to Teenage Cancer Trust.