In 2023, our beautiful force of nature, Laura, died from Glioblastoma - the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer. When she was diagnosed in 2018, Laura was only 18. The doctors gave her a prognosis of just a year - but this never once deterred Laura from living her life to the fullest.

Despite aggressive treatments, sickness and everything else that comes with cancer, Laura never once gave up, and not only lived her 4 and a half years to the fullest with an incredible bucket list (including skydiving, flying a helicopter and meeting Michelle Obama) but ensured she used her time to help others, working as a Young Ambassador for the Brain Tumour charity and taking every opportunity to raise awareness of this awful disease. When she died, her final act of bravery was to donate her brain to science, something that we hope will enable scientists to better understand the disease and find kinder, more effective treatments. We want to honour Laura by doing 25 challenges this year, one for each of her precious years of life.

Gracie and I are always up for a challenge, last year we climbed Pendle Hill 100 times and took on the Camino de Santiago, but this year we have even bigger plans and we’re taking on 25 challenges before the end of the year to raise funds for 2 charities very close to our hearts; Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 and yet receive only 2% of the annual cancer research spend. Laura was horrified to find this out and devastated to discover that treatments for her cancer – glioblastoma – hadn’t changed in decades.

Through the ‘Be More Laura Foundation’, we’re trying to make a real difference and fund research specifically into glioblastoma to find kinder, more effective treatments for this awful disease.

We are also supporting the incredible work of the charity ‘Sibling Support’, the UK’s only sibling bereavement charity: working specifically to support young people dealing with the devastating death of a brother or sister, something so desperately needed.

So far, we’ve run to Holy Island across the wet & muddy causeway from the mainland and climbed Pen Y Ghent and there’s lots more to come, including the Chicago Marathon in October – which is a serious challenge for a brand-new runner like Gracie, and to get there we’ll also take part in 5k, 10k and half marathons. There are plans for some wild swimming, mountain climbing and abseiling – we’ll keep you updated with our plans as they happen, and we’d also love to hear your suggestions!