SAD UPDATE. Tragically, Sinead passed away peacefully on February 1- the saddest news. She will be missed hugely by her family, friends and industry colleagues. To me, it is now even more important to take on this walking challenge and raise as much money as possible for The Royal Marsden in order to find the treatments to finally KICK CANCER OUT.

I am taking part in the #KickCancerThon, the joint brainchild of my industry colleagues Sinead Moodie and her father Martin Moodie as a global effort to raise awareness of cancer and support charities around the world.

Sinead has been diagnosed with NUT Carcinoma Lung Cancer, an ultra-rare, very aggressive variant of the disease. A non-smoker her whole life, Sinead is just 40, has loving children of 5 and 2, and a devoted husband, Adrian.

She is under the extraordinarily caring and professional support of The Royal Marsden in London, which opened in 1851 as the world’s first hospital dedicated to cancer diagnosis, treatment, research and education.

While #KickCancerThon encourages teams of any size to complete the marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles & 385 yards) between them (and I am part of one of those too), I also wanted to take on a personal challenge - and the South Downs route is a tough one (especially with my achey hips!)

I am doing this to raise vitally needed funds for The Royal Marsden and will be walking for Sinead and in support of all those fighting (and who have beaten) this awful disease. Too many (unfortunately) to mention here but particularly for my mum (who didn't make it and passed at just 48) and my bestie friend Debbie who kicked it right out of the room! Please do support me - every little helps!