I am a Mum to 2 very vibrant and head strong kids. When my eldest was 5 and in Year 1 at school, his best friend (at his request we shall call him Sensei Who) became ill, and he couldn't shake it off. He was diagnosed with Leukemia. To say we were all devastated and scared is an understatement, we felt helpless.  We have continued together to worry, laugh, run, swim, make, hug and sleep our way through this so far, and will continue to do so.

Sensei Who went with the tide, he has such a tremendous way of looking at things, he once told his Mum to take in the sad things and to poop out rainbows. His positive outlook has been with him throughout and this month he finishes his chemo.

Lockdown has been hard, Sensei Who and his family have been shielding for 5 months, we've been FaceTiming for hours at a time, the kids have been building Lego together in silence, playing video games, watching films together and even had a virtual sleep over!  

The kids wanted to celebrate Sensei Who moving on to the next chapter of his journey with a party, CV19 has put a stop on this. It needs to be celebrated somehow. 

For now I shall do it my way. I shall be travelling 400 miles throughout August - under my own steam.  I aim to cycle, swim, walk, paddle and run 400 miles before August ends. I will not be including local walks to the park or to the shops, this needs to be more special than that.

I asked Sensei Who and his family which charity I should be raising money for and why, the reply was immediate, and I can only give you the who's and why's in Sensei Who's own words....

"Hugs from Henry because they have been delivering treats and sometimes sweets and cooked meals to us so we don't have to cook, and on Christmas when we go to the hospital they give us presents (he totally smiled about this one).  They let us stay in one of their respite homes, and they do put on lots of fun events, and they've helped lots of our friends, and families we don't know."