Update 5th May

Hello all - don't forget, if you haven't contributed, it's not too late - donations will remain open through the end of May !!

Update 23rd April

Hello all,

I made it !! I had hoped for a sub 7-hour finish, but managed an official time of 5:50:56 - over the moon !!

Together, family, friends and colleagues have already raised a combined total of £11,911.74 inclusive of matching and gift aid for TeamPB ! This has been beyond my wildest expectations – Thank you so much !

Please, if you have not had the opportunity to donate to this point, please take the time now to support these two very worthwhile organisations. It is only through donations like yours that these groups can continue the never-ending battle against cancer. The TeamPB partnership is very important to both organisations, and part of the funds raised by TeamPB will be used to provide a new ways of helping people get physically active after treatment to improve their wellbeing and help reduce the chance of the cancer coming back.

And of course, for those outside the UK, please remember that the research work completed by The Prostate Cancer Charity helps us all, regardless of what country we may call home. They support basic, translational and clinical research into the risk, diagnosis and prognosis, and treatment of prostate cancer. They aim to advance understanding of prostate cancer to allow further development of drugs, treatments, tests and long-term care to improve the lives of men with prostate cancer. In 2011 alone, they spent over £3million on research!

Please donate today - no donation is too small (and of course, none too large J) - Thank you for your continued support !

-Eric

Why do I need your help ? What is TeamPB ?

The Prostate Cancer Charity and Breast Cancer Care have joined forces to create TeamPB – the official charity of the 2012 London Marathon. Together, they are hoping to raise more than £1 million via the marathon. As many of you know, I decided to take the plunge and complete the 2012 London Marathon on April 22nd 2012, running for TeamPB with the goal of raising £6,500 in the process. From a marathon standpoint, I’ve completed my final long run (a lovely 19 mile run along the Thames in late March), the WholeFoods Breakfast run on Sunday 1st April, and thru the taper down period with a couple 8 mile runs thrown in during the final two weeks, now just trying very, very hard to avoid any injuries. The training has been going even better than hoped, and I am now running 20-30km per week in addition to other cardio training. From a personal health standpoint, I have now dropped an amazing 42 lbs (19.1kg // 3 Stone) achieving the 3 stone target that I had at the outset. Considering that I couldn’t make it around the block at the start in January I am more than pleased with the progress.

I knew that having a goal in place in support of TeamPB and the support of all of you would keep me going – thank you, for the encouragement and the donations so far.

With that said, the real reason for doing this is of course to raise funds for two very worthwhile organisations, The Prostate Cancer Charity and Breast Cancer Care.

I committed to raising £6,500 toward their £1,000,000 target, and through the generous support of friends and colleagues we met that target and are pressing closer to £10k every day, in support of this very worthwhile group.

With the prevalence of Breast and Prostate cancers, where in the UK alone more than 750,000 people are currently living with these two cancers today, many of us will know friends or family that have been touched by these diseases. I have personally seen both battles won and battles lost – and have seen the huge benefit that organisations like the Prostate Cancer Charity and Breast Cancer Care bring. So, what can your donation do ?

£2 pays for a headscarf set, helping to boost the confidence of a woman who has lost her hair as a result of her breast cancer treatment

£10 covers the cost of printing five copies of Breast Cancer Care’s award winning literature

£20 means that a Specialist Nurse can support a caller to the Prostate Cancer Charity’s confidential helpline

£52 pays for a personal appointment with their HeadStrong service to help women cope with the distress of hair loss from cancer treatment

£132 pays to connect someone going through breast cancer with a trained volunteer who has had a similar experience to them and can provide one-to-one support and reassurance

£2,000 could support two weeks’ worth of research into treating advanced prostate cancer, helping men around the world

£4,000 pays for 44 people with breast cancer to attend an information and support session with expert speakers and Specialist Nurses to help them move forward after treatment

Please join me in supporting TeamPB, and give what you can – no amount is too large or too small (for UK residents, please make sure to select the Gift Aid option as well which allows an additional 25% of your donation to be reclaimed from the government – it does not cost you anything to do this). The donations through my JustGiving webpage go directly to the charity every single week, so money donated now goes to help TeamPB today – not only following the marathon in April.

Click here donate with credit / debit / paypal - https://www.justgiving.com/Eric-Sheley

Thank you

-Eric

More information can be found at the following links:

http://teampb.org.uk/

http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/

http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/