THE CHARITY - The word ‘cancer’ strikes fear in the hearts of those who hear it. Most who read this will know someone who has been affected by cancer and will be aware of the struggles faced by patients and their loved ones. Many will have drawn on the courage and determination shown by those fighting this illness and some of you may have fought it yourselves or still be fighting it.

THE INSPIRATION 
- My inspiration for this fundraiser is the incredible Missin Family whom I’m proud to call my close friends. They’re made up of Kate, Jon, their 9 year old son Daniel and crazy terrier Chazzy!

Kate and I met at work almost 20 years ago and our sarcastic sense of humour soon cemented our friendship. Very quickly, Kate’s inner friend/family circle became mine and vice versa. 

Her husband Jon was diagnosed with Myeloma in February 2015 and along with the usual pile of hideousness associated with fighting this disease (e.g. pain, fatigue, brain fog and generally feeling crap), Jon and his family have also had to contend with the hurdles thrown up by COVID, including the constant fear associated with shielding him from the outside world given Jon’s depleted immune system.

The strength they have shown in making the most of the time they have left together, even in these most trying of times, has been nothing short of awe-inspiring.


THE DISEASE
 - For anyone who isn’t aware, Myeloma is a blood cancer that, for now, is incurable - so whilst patients can have periods of remission, the cancer is guaranteed to return, resulting in an extremely uncertain future. Fundraising contributes to this charity's efforts in raising awareness and providing support to the patients and families living with this condition as well as contributing to the investments made into improving treatment, conducting clinical trials and progressing the research into finding a cure. 


THE CHALLENGE - 
To raise money for this amazing cause, I am undertaking a 10k run to earn the donations of lovely, kind and generous people such as yourself :)

In January 2022 I genuinely couldn’t run for 30 seconds without stopping to catch my breath, but I trained hard and in March I achieved my first 5k run.
Many of you already know that I have rapid cycling Bipolar 1 with mixed states and at times am very ill. During these periods I will need to halt training for between 3-5 weeks.

Although weight wise I’m not as heavy as I was in January, I’m still overweight and on top of this I’m now facing the mayhem of menopause which is throwing all kinds of unexpected spanner’s into the works. This is particularly worrying as menopause can exacerbate bipolar symptoms significantly, therefore, running a 10k is a huge challenge for me as I’m nowhere near able to run this distance at present.



PLEASE SPONSOR ME…

Can you even begin to imagine looking to the future and trying to see the next few years without your husband, your brother, your children’s father or their uncle, around? Or looking at your child and knowing you may not see them become an adult? That’s the reality Kate and Jon face every single day.

Literally any donation, any amount, will be very gratefully received. If you can’t donate then simply sharing this page on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or within your workplace, will be completely awesome too. Even if people don’t donate directly, it's still raising awareness about Myeloma and that is just as helpful.

I’ll post pictures/updates on here as things progress :) Thank you so very much for reading!

Much love xx

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.