UPDATE 26 May 2019: I am really sorry to announce that due to unavoidable work commitments (I'll be in Helsinki) I will only be able to take part in the final 92 mile London - Blenheim Palace stage of TOO500. I'm absolutely gutted that I won't be joining the other riders for all 5 stages. Whilst I realise that one stage doesn't even come close to matching the Herculean feat of 500 miles in 5 days this is an incredibly worthwhile cause and one very close to my heart. I do hope you can sponsor me and help 'Thinking of Oscar' reach their target of raising £500,000 to fund innovation in pediatric care at the UK's leading children's hospitals. 

The idea for TOO500 was born out of the realisation that child health lacks both funding and focus on a global scale. Accordingly, the purpose of #too500 is not only to raise much needed funds in order to invest in innovative projects, but also to raise awareness of the need for improved focus and funding within child health and the benefits that this will then provide not only on the child and their families but for the hospitals and society as a whole.

I'm taking part in the ride because innovation in pediatric healthcare is a cause close to my heart. In 2011 my then 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer. She's thankfully now 7 years cancer free but during her treatment I was shocked by the lack of age-appropriate information that was available to her. That realisation has led me to develop Xploro, a mobile app which uses augmented reality, artificial intelligence and games to deliver health information to children going in to hospital. 

You can read more about my involvement in the planning of the ride and why it's so important to me on the Corporation Pop blog at www.corporationpop.co.uk/too500