On 8th July 2019 Jamie and I are undertaking the monumental challenge of hiking 315 km from St Bees Head on the West coast of Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay on the East coast of North Yorkshire. 

We are going to attempt to complete this epic journey in 7 days (the guidelines say it takes a minimum of 14 days). This is equivalent to us completing more than a marathon a day. We will be navigating the entire route ourselves and will be camping at night. In the 190-odd miles from seashore to seashore we will ascend and descend the equivalent height of Mount Everest. Needless to say we are fairly apprehensive.

Our Motivation...

On 30th September 2018 our hearts shattered as our darling Ems, aged only 36, died after a six year battle with cancer. Ems was my beloved cousin, wife to Nick, sister to Sar and Toby, daughter to Cate and Ian and friend to many. She was much loved by us all. Her death has left a cavernous void in all of our lives. 

Jamie, the boys and I were very close to Ems and fortunately had lots of incredibly special times together. She lived with us in London and we share many happy memories, including an amazing holiday in France only a month before her death.

During the six years after being diagnosed, Ems was treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital. Ems felt that the treatment they gave her was second to none. We spoke to Ems days before she died about what we could do to support the hospital and its ongoing work. Ems felt very strongly that she wanted us to continue fundraising for the Marsden to allow as much HOPE for others for their future.

Tragically my aunt Cate, Ems's mum, now has stage 4 cancer and has also been under the amazing care of the Marsden. Cate also absolutely agrees that the Marsden offers superb support and care and we MUST go on to help raise money for this incredibly hospital to help them beat this devastating disease.This has given Jamie and I even more determination to support this wonderful charity and to give something back for everything they have done for our family and so many others affected by cancer.

This is where our fantastic family and friends come in... to help us through this monumental challenge we need to raise AS MUCH MONEY as possible. We have set ourselves an insanely high target of £20,000 - to some this might seem unrealistic but we are determined to give it our best shot as we know this money will change lives. We would be eternally grateful for even the smallest donation. Every penny we raise is crucial and will help us to keep chipping away at those miles and push us over the finish line.

If you are able to share our challenge on social media, by word of mouth or in any other way to help raise publicity, we would be hugely grateful because we really are determined to get this important message out, together we really can help beat cancer. 

We can only hope that by continuing to raise money for the Marsden and other cancer charities that one day this terrible disease will be beaten and lives will stop being shattered. 

Much love and eternal thanks 

Jamie and Bex  xx