Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Unused as I am to doing significant posts on Facebook, being something of a Facebook lurker, I am unusually making an announcement of my upcoming attempt at 'stay sober in October'. My mate Kelvin Mason was in the midst of doing the same in September when I posted a picture of me and herself in Brewdog in Brighton drinking Punk IPA, which happens to be Kelvins favourite tipple. As a penance for such cruelty I am now, myself, going to go through the same deprivation.

I have other reasons for doing this. Having got a full grip now on the weight issues that have haunted me since I gave up smoking about ten years ago, whilst I am in a good place now around this I would like to make one more concerted effort to properly get back to my fighting weight. I'm good on the food but it's the grog, which is packed full of calories, that gets me.

So, I'm reckoning that a month off the grog will crack it.

As I am going to be doing this anyway it seems like a wasted opportunity not to raise some much needed cash for good causes as part of this.

I wanted to go for a charity related to that scourge called cancer. And this for a couple of reasons. My own family and others close to me including surrogate family and current relationships, have been blighted by cancer over the generations. Even in very recent times I have seen close friends lost to their loved ones and to me.

But, amongst all the sadness and loss there is a lot of hope characterised for me by the extraordinary positive battle that our son's Jamie's, very good friend Daniel Wallage has fought, and is winning, in his fight against the terrible disease.

His story is of a triumph of positive thinking and action against adversity and is inspirational to all of us who have witnessed it. We have had the good fortune of having Dan living with us for a period of time as a part of our family. He has also had the tremendous support of his Mum and Dad, the irrepressible and stoic Hayley and Bill Wallage.

I'm not particularly aiming for a particular target, but do give something if you can and share the post. The teenage cancer trust do remarkable work in supporting young people at their most vulnerable.

I'll do some updates on the journey.

Ta much