I set off on my ‘Camino Frances’ fundraiser on May 5th 2023, in support of two amazing charities - the Melanoma Fund and Lymphoma Action.

From St Jean Pied de Port in southwest France, I will walk 500 miles over the Pyrenees into Spain along an ancient Pilgrims route to Northwest Spain, arriving in Santiago de Compostela some 35 days later, hopefully!

I’m retracing the footsteps of my dear friend and “father” Dave Harry Townsend, who made this trip 20 years earlier. We lost Harry in 2020 during COVID, and I promised him to walk this route to raise money for cancer.

Harry was my mentor and inspiration who guided, supported, and encouraged me from the age of 13, when I first played rugby for Felbridge, the club he set up and ran tirelessly. Harry gave me advice, wisdom, and belief from rugby into my career and we often mused over many topics from sport to horticulture. I loved him dearly.

Harry tirelessly raised money for the Melanoma fund, a charity that he founded in honour of his wife Myfanwy. We lost “Mum” in 1999 at the young age of 60. She was a remarkable woman, full of energy, patience, and laughter. She fed me and cared for me, guided me, and as with the many other boys at Felbridge, always gave us patience and understanding. We felt her comfort when she called us “Luvy”. I miss her.

In 2003, I was diagnosed with Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin’s Disease – a form of cancer – that I fought with the help of Dr Chris Hatton and his remarkable team at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital. After several operations, bouts of chemotherapy and, an aggressive stell cell transplant in 2008, I was finally able to free myself of this dreadful illness, deemed clear in 2017.

Now my dearest friend in New Zealand, Mark Habgood is fighting his own battle with cancer, and my hopes and prayers are with him. So, time to have gratitude, pay back and to recognise just how much we still must do to get rid of cancer.

As cancer has touched the lives of so many of you, I hope you’ll help me raise as much as possible. Please click on the link and donate whatever you can, I’ll be truly grateful. Please follow my journey here. For Harry and Myfanwy