Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2020 right at the start of the first Covid lockdown. I was lucky that I only had a short wait for treatment and I had surgery in the spring of 2020 and then started chemo in the summer followed by radiotherapy and antibody therapy. I cannot fault the treatment, and I know that I have the best outcome I could have.

Although the treatment finished in the summer of 2021, I was finding it hard to process what had happened to me. The mental side of recovery can be longer and more complicated than the physical side, but through another support group I became aware of Team Phoenix.

Team Phoenix Foundation is a charity based near me, in Medway Kent. It supports local women who have had breast cancer in their physical and mental recovery through a wellbeing and fitness programme.

There is a coaching and training programme that runs over 5-6 months, at the end of which we will all complete a sprint triathlon at Hever Castle as part of the Hever Castle Triathlon and Multisport Festival. The triathlon that we are training for involves a 400m swim in the Hever Castle lake followed by a 20k cycle and then a 4k run.

I was not at all fit at the start of the programme but I have already made huge progress and I am so pleased I signed up. The programme isn’t just about being able to complete a triathlon – it is primarily a support programme and it is about us supporting each other as part of our recovery.

I want to raise awareness but also to raise funds so that future participants can benefit from the same opportunities that I have been fortunate enough to have, and so that they too can become a “Firebird”!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Teamphoenixfoundation.co.uk

Facebook – Team Phoenix Foundation

The charity, founded in 2016 by a group of friends, created a unique supportive pathway of fitness, fun and friendship, enabling survivors just like them to rise from the ashes and live again.

Like the sport of triathlon, the aim of Team Phoenix is also threefold:

to harness the MIND, BODY and SOUL

and regenerate the inner trinity allowing survivors to fly again