Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I love a New Year's resolution so I made 12 for 2012, albeit after a few shandies at the bells!! 

As many of you will know, over the last 18 months I have been working hard to lose weight and improve my fitness.   

In an attempt to raise £1000 for charity (one of the resolutions), lose more weight (another resolution) and get fitter (another one!), I have set myself some new challenges.  In 2012 I am going to cycle hunners of miles at Spin classes throughout March and April, walk the 96 miles of the West Highland Way in April (yep, you guessed it...another resolution) and run the Women's 10K (thats another one!) in Glasgow on 13th May.

I would specifically like to help the Schiehallion Ward at Yorkhill Children's Hospital where my best friend Sarah's wee brother spent some time bravely fighting Leukaemia.  Sarah and Andrew's mum Lesley and sister Cheryl have very kindly written wee stories for me about the fantastic work they do there:

Lesley: "Suzanne MacCrimmon has been a family friend for more than 13 years.  She has asked me to write something about my experience of the Shiehallion Ward, Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow where children are treated for cancer and leukaemia.

My son Andrew was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia when he was 12 years old and he was admitted to the Shiehallion Ward in Yorkhill Hospital. As you can imagine this was horrifying news for Andrew and everyone who knew him.  That day we learned that the ward would be his home and mine for the duration of his treatment which would last approximately 6 months and my initial reaction to this news was that Shiehallion was the last place on earth I would ever want to be.

Over the course of the next 12 months my point of view changed. Of course this was because of the high standard of medical treatment Andrew received but also because of the care and love he was given from everyone working there.  Staff there are not only doctors and nurses, but play leaders, teachers, social workers, administrators, chaplains and domestic staff - they all work very hard to make every child's time in Shiehallion as positive as possible while also giving fantastic support to parents, friends and families.

Although my son very bravely fought leukaemia he did not beat it, but despite this, the overwhelming memories of our time spent in Shiehallion are so happy. Please support Suzanne in her endeavour to raise money for this very special and wonderful place."

Cheryl:  "A big thank you to you for doing this in memory of our lovely brother Andrew.  The Schiehallion Ward is a special place that not only gives the best care possible but are also so supportive in every way and especially in keeping the patients' and family members' spirits high.  Although ultimately we have sad memories of Yorkhill, I have many very fond ones too.  Good luck with your challenge.  You should be very proud of yourself not only for this, but for the great things you have already achieved so far."

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate whatever you can.

Many thanks :-)  Suzanne xxx

Update 24/2/12 - I've just received confirmation from Yorkhill Children's Foundation that all the funds I raise will go directly to the Schiehallion Unit :-) x

Update 29/2/12 - Day 1 officially tomorrow...think I'll go for a wee morning 'run' to ease myself in. Then full pelt with spin, run, walk and hill over the weekend :) So grateful for all the support so far. Thank yoooo xx

Update 05/03/12 - Had a pretty active few days. Since 1st March, I've clocked up a total of 59.3 miles running, walking and spinning, including a 16.8 mile practice walk to, up and back from Dumyat with the WHW girls yesterday. So far so good....we didn't even fall out!

Update 14/03/12 - Just received some Yorkhill running vests, a collecting can and some sponsorship forms!  Excited much :D  Can't wait to wear them LOL!  So easily pleased!

Update 27/03/12 - So I have recruited another victim to run the Womens 10K on 13th May with me and help with the fundraising efforts.  Thank you Jennifer Peebles for your support :D x

Update 27/03/12 - I am also now planning to do a skydive from 10,000ft on 29th September!!  That's another 2 miles for the mileage!  Eeeeeek!  I must be mad. I will be funding the skydive myself and not from sponsorship to maximise the donations to Yorkhill so please dig deep people!

Update 06/04/12 - Just completed the West Highland Way.  It has been a roller-coaster 6 days!  So many thoughts and emotions and several epiphany type moments!  Feeling overwhelmed by the support, grateful for amazing friends, family and good health and above all, an unexpected but insightful awareness of the power of positivity, grit and determination.

Update 25/05/12 - I've now completed in excess of 1000 miles since the 1st March including the West Highland Way with my friend Gill Inglis and the Women's10K in Glasgow with Jennifer Peebles!  I've lost a further 14lbs in weight taking my total weight loss to date to 6 stone and raised well over £2000!!  The support and donations from people have been incredible.  Jennifer's friends, colleaugues and customers have donated a massive £680 of my current total!

I'm looking forward to getting back to some BodyJam, BodyAttack, BodyCombat, BodyStep, BodyPump and BodyBalance classes at The Peak which have taken a back seat over the last couple of months while clocking up the miles. I also plan to continue cycling and attending numerous spin classes every week, and  keep up the running and walking (I just won't be counting the miles!). My page will therefore remain open until the end of the year as I would like to climb Ben Nevis, do a Sky Dive and possibly even attempt to 'run' a half marathon so still time to donate if you haven't already.  Thank you all for the support, donations, messages and encouragement....it really means a lot to me, Jennifer, Yorkhill Hospital and Andrew's family.  Muchos lovage xxx

Update 24/07/12 - Well folks, thats the skydive booked for 29th September! Eeeeeeeeeekkkkkk.  Still hoping to climb Ben Nevis before then too....diaries and weather dependent!  Thanks again peeps for all the donations and encouragement.

Final Update - I've been completely and utterly overwhelmed by all the support I've received and that for my fabulous fundraising partners David and Jennifer too.  In addition to this, David has also raised an additional and amazing £1732 following our skydive at Errol in November 2012:

http://www.justgiving.com/David-Thomas71

Although not strictly part of this original challenge, I also successfully climbed Ben Nevis in July 2013, which I had to postpone last summer as I kind of ran out of time! 

Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart!! xxx