Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I had heard of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases called Crohn's and Colitis, but it wasn't until my son was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in June 2015 that I truly understood how debilitating these conditions can be.

IBD is an auto immune condition that causes ulceration and inflammation in the large colon in ulcerative colitis sufferers,  or in any part of the digestive system in Crohn's sufferers.  The symptoms include urgent trips to the bathroom, which can be  30+ times a day when having a flare up,  (often with blood), severe abdominal pains, extreme fatigue, painful joints and extreme weight loss, but as well as the physical effects they have on a person, there is also the mental anguish, that many sufferers go through when leaving the house.  My son missed out on so many things with his family, girlfriend and friends because he was too scared to go out in case of needing the toilet.  This resulted in him being almost 'home-bound' for nearly 3 years.

There are at least 300,000 people in the UK  who have been diagnosed with IBD, and Crohn's and Colitis UK say these conditions are becoming much more common, especially amongst young people.  There is no known cure, so all that can be done is to treat the symptoms with a cocktail of very strong drugs, which can also be very hard on the body.

Iain was just 21 when he was diagnosed, and before that he had been a very fit and healthy young lad. As his Mum, I cannot put into words the feeling of total helplessness that we felt as we saw the son and brother we loved in so much pain and the fact that we couldn't just 'kiss it better' as we used to when he was little,  

I vowed that I had to do something to raise funds to help find a cure for these debilitating conditions and so to the challenge.....

I am taking on a double cycle challenge, consisting of cycling 2500 kilometres in 105 days, with the added excitement of taking part in the Tour of Cambridgeshire 100 mile Sportive on 2nd June!  In order to achieve this, I need to cycle an average of 25km per day!  I have a Tacx cycle trainer set up in the garage so that I can cycle even when the weather is bad.  Anyone who knows me will know that I am not a super athlete...I am just a Mum on the wrong side of 50 who desperately wants answers as to why young people like Iain are being struck down by these crippling diseases - that's motivation enough.

I start this challenge on Sunday 24th February which is a special day. A year ago on that date Iain was admitted to hospital where he underwent a 7 hour operation to remove his large intestine as it was so badly ulcerated.  This operation is only performed when all other options have been exhausted.  The 8th June is the end of the challenge and this is also Iain's 25th birthday so we will enjoy a double celebration!

Since the operation, Iain has made amazing progress and he is now back doing all the things he'd missed out on - but at a price. The surgery resulted in him being left with a colostomy bag which he is still having to come to terms with. Hopefully a cure will be found very soon to stop this disease from ruining so many lives.

Thank you so much for reading.  I will add updates onto this page as I go along.

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.