Hello!

Thank you so much for your interest in my page, and even BIGGER thanks should you choose to donate!

On 6th June 2015 my friends and I will be walking the Clarendon Way from Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire to Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire, about 26 miles in total. I wanted to use this opportunity to raise both money and awareness for an excellent charity, Crohn's and Colitis UK.

Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are the main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or IBD for short (not to be confused with IBS). They are relatively common diseases but not widely discussed due to their embarrassing and awkward symptoms. Sufferers can go for extended periods with a vast array of debilitating symptoms including diarrhoea, vomiting, extreme pain, bleeding from the gut and severe fatigue to name only a handful of the problems these diseases can cause. For a lot of people, their symptoms are invisible and this can make leading a normal life even harder.

The cause is unknown although genetic and environmental factors are believed to play a part, and there is currently no cure so they are life-long conditions.

Because of this, a huge amount of research is being done to look into the causes and potential treatments of IBD and I am privileged to be able to count myself amongst those working in this field. It is for this reason that I want to raise awareness of these diseases and the work of the leading charity, Crohn's and Colitis UK, who not only fund IBD research but provide support to those who are suffering with them and also raise awareness of the conditions to make the lives of sufferers easier to bear.

Please do dig deep and give generously to this cause if you are able, but any donation would be gratefully received by the charity and used to help countless people who fight daily with their IBD.

(The write up after the event will be on my outdoorsy-blog at www.fun-gal-caching.blogspot.com)