As some of you may know, 6 months ago my mum Lesley Coleby was diagnosed with a rare and incurable illness called Dermatomyositis. It is a nasty disease which causes irritable sores and rashes on the body and wears away at the muscles making them weak and painful. Day to day life becomes a genuine struggle for sufferers and adjustments are not easy to face. Mum has been doing well lately thanks to the help of friends, family and advice and support from The Myositis Support Group who are the sole charity reaching out to those with the illness and funding the vital medical research into it. 

The Myositis Group make a huge difference, but are not well funded so I have made the mad decision to cycle from John O'Groats to Land's End in late August this year to help raise money for them. Along with 4 of my housemates from the University of Reading (Ed Price, Charles Berry, James Cutlan and Oli Ison) I will cover almost 1000 miles in the (potentially optimistic!) target of 10 days as the greatest physical challenge I have ever attempted!

So I would be enormously grateful for donations of any size, which will be going to a great cause and one which is very close to my heart.