My gorgeous little niece Olive who is now 2 and a half has DBA (Diamond Blackfan Anemia) which is a bone marrow failure condition. She relies on monthly blood transfusions to stay alive and currently there is no cure. Two years ago I ran 40 miles to raise money for the Olive Children’s Foundation and Olive's treatment. So much has happened since then with the unfolding of the work the foundation does through http://olivechildrensfoundation.org/ including raising awareness, supporting other people with DBA and their families as well as consultancy on treatment protocols as my brother and his partner are both doctors. Please check out the website especially if you are a cyclist as they partner with ASG (Sport Soloutions) who make ace Olive Children's Foundation racing kit. They also have broader connections with the wider DBA community.

I want to raise money to help both little Ollie and a UK based DBA charity as this is where I live and some of Ollie’s treatment advice and genetics has come from . The amount I'm trying to raise will hardly touch sides but I feel it's achievable and every little does make a difference.

I have set myself the challenge of a lifetime, one I’m not sure if I can complete. I'm going to attempt to run/fastpack the Cape Wrath Trail (West Variation) which will be anywhere between 350 and 380 kilometres and over 11,000 meters of ascent (Everest is 8,848 m). I hope to do this in a week which is an average of 50km and 1,500m per day. My lovely buddy Courtney is coming from across the pond to do this with me and her wonderful mum is going to support us. Half of the money raised will go directly to support Ollie with treatment costs here in the UK including genetics, consultancy and medication and half will go to DBA UK as they are doing a cracking job raising awareness of this rare condition and funding research into new forms of treatment. Any of Olives portion not used for whatever reason will go to the Olive Children's foundation.

Please, please consider contributing, sharing widely and donating blood! Much, much, gratitude. Pen