My Dad's cousin in the Philippines has recently been diagnosed with liver cancer, and I am running the Summer Solstice Challenge to raise money to help pay for his medical bills.

We lost my Dad in 2005. He had never known his own father, who was lost at sea before he was born. An only child, he was brought up in a house with his mother, aunt, uncle and six cousins. Alex was the youngest; his nickname 'Boyet' meaning 'little boy' has stuck with him throughout his life.

A self taught musician, my Dad chose to entertain the American troops in Vietnam to escape the poverty of his home country. Later he would meet my Mum, a dancer, in Hong Kong.

When he left for England in 1978 with his new wife and young baby, it was Alex who remained at home caring for my grandmother, or 'Lola' as we knew her, until she died in 1997.

Alex and his wife, Mercy, have both endured poor health for many years, impacting on their ability to work. Now, their only daughter, Jasmine, has been made redundant from the call centre where she worked to earn money for the family.

This, at the same time as Alex has had his most recent diagnosis of cancer, following years of suffering from a heart condition that took my Dad. His current medical bills cost 1300 PHP per day (£20), and an operation would cost 600,000 PHP (£9,400) - an amount that is wholly unobtainable for them.

As my Dad's closest family, I want to help. Whilst many charities support families living in terrible conditions in the Philippines, I want any money I raise to go directly to my family. So I have decided to run down the sun.

The challenge is to run for a total of 16 hours and 38 minutes (hours of daylight on the longest day) throughout June. This will be more than tough! When I recently accepted a challenge to run every day for 46 consecutive days, my total over 30 days was 7 hours. Please help me make it easier!

https://www.medalmad.com/product/the-summer-solstice-challenge-2017/