John Hance, Andy Burrell along with Alan's daughters, Emily & Amy are walking 10 miles from Bristol Floating Harbour to Cleeve Cricket Club on Sunday July 19th.

Alan is a Cleeve CC legend...a player, volunteer and supporter so ending the walk there seems a good place.

We hope you can help us raise some funds to help Alan in his fight, below is why we are doing this fundraiser which was written by Alan's sister.

After numerous battles, Alan now urgently needs your help to win his on-going war with stage 4 malignant melanoma. We are looking to remove the financial burden of worry and raise an initial £45,000 to carry him across 6 treatments.

Alan, 58-years old, a great big softy at heart, devoted family man, amazing friend, keen golfer, and yes, a passionate plane spotter! Also, a strong-minded fighter of Stage 4 malignant melanoma who was told in March 2017 that he wouldn’t see his 60th birthday. Alan is an incredible man who has been happily married to Alison for 35 years and has two beautiful daughters, Amy and Emily. He wants nothing more than to walk each of them down the aisle and to see his future grandchildren.

Alan has never succumbed to any symptoms of his cancer, but has done everything asked of him by his NHS consultants and undergone numerous gruelling treatments.

This most aggressive form of skin cancer did not present itself on Alan’s skin. He found a lump in his groin and went that same day to his GP. Less than 6 weeks later the tumour was surgically removed and all seemed to be going well until 1 year later when a scan revealed a new tumour in his chest that was deemed inoperable.

In May 2018, Alan was told that without treatment, he would live for 6-9 months. The fight then became chemical with a double-drug regime of immunotherapy. His tumour was shrinking but then a side effect of the treatment caused severe liver disease. This meant stopping immunotherapy for the cancer and starting a fight against liver disease, using high level immune supressing steroids. A 5-week hospital stay and steroid induced diabetes did not dampen Alan’s strength to get on top of this disease and although incredibly well in himself, it took to the end of the year to stabilise his liver and stop the need for steroids.

Then the hammer blow…the NHS would not fund further immunotherapy but he could have chemotherapy (not known for its efficacy with malignant melanoma) Alan couldn’t sit and do nothing so the chemo battle started. Clear of treatment in July 2019 he managed a golf tour and some trips in the UK.

Since then Alan has developed two brain tumours and has undergone successful gamma knife radiation treatment. He finally had his chest tumour removed by undergoing surgery with a painful recovery. The only thing he ever complains about is having to give up his driving licence and losing that independence.

Now, in June 2020, with further smaller tumours emerging, his consultant says the only treatment that can help is immunotherapy, but this time with a lesser toxicity regime that hopefully won’t adversely affect his liver. Unfortunately, the NHS guidelines will not fund it because although the immunotherapy appeared to work last time, it affected his liver.

Alan has through it all, and to this day, felt fit and well. He gets on the golf course whenever he can and walks his cockerpoo, Maisy every day. We simply cannot accept that he should now give up his fight and let this disease win by taking away his joy and his life.

The only way we can get the immunotherapy he needs is to pay privately for it and it costs £7,500 every 6 weeks. If it works for Alan, we should know after 3 or 4 treatments. How well it works, will determine how often his on-going treatment may need to be.

We are looking to remove the financial burden of worry and raise an initial £45,000 to carry him across 6 treatments.

Here’s what Andy Burrell wants to share about his dear friend of 40 years…“Al and I have played Cricket and Golf together for over four decades now and you couldn’t wish to meet a more kind and loyal friend. He always seems to keep a calm head whatever the situation whilst maintaining an underlying will to win. He is competitive by nature but never to the detriment of his team-mates or those around him. It would be hard to meet a more genuine guy, who lives for his family and his sport. His will to win has never been more evident than over the last few years, as he has refused to give in to this terrible disease and continues, without complaint, to try and win the battle against it – still turning up on the 1st tee whenever he can! However, the time has now come when he needs his team-mates, friends and family to step up and give him a little helping hand by making a donation, no matter how small, to fund his continuing fight. I want to be ‘teeing it up’ with my best mate for years to come”

Your financial help will be a huge encouragement to Alan and will extend this incredible man’s life. We THANK YOU for anything you may feel able to donate and we commit to keeping you updated on Alan’s fight.