Hi, and thank you for visiting my page.

On the 11th June this year, a friend (Richard Shamsi) and I are setting off from John O'Groats, on bicycles, aiming to be in Lands End on the 19th June.

That's 954 miles, in 9 days.

What's more, at night we're sleeping in tents on bed rolls, rising at 5am every day for a 7am departure.

You would be right to ask "why", so here is my story:

In the summer of 2001, my father, Colin Milner, was very ill.

He was suffering from lung cancer and had a brain tumour; he was 65, had two grandchildren, Ella and Abi aged 8 months, and he was in a great deal of pain.

Dad had quietly battled the cancer but, as is so often the case, it was too advanced and the best the doctors could do was to manage the symptoms and provide pain relief.

It was then that we encountered The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham, Surrey. They welcomed in my father, they knew exactly how to talk to us as his family, and it was like walking into a second home.

The people who work at the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice are astonishing individuals. Every day they work with around 100 people who are terminally ill, and every day they work with the families struggling to handle what is happening to them.

Many of the rest of us wouldn't last a day, yet these people, who you only meet when you are in crisis, come back in the next day and do it all again, and again, and again.

The hospice needs to raise £10,000 a day to provide their service as only 16% of their costs are met by the NHS. That's why fundraising like this is so important.

Some of you reading this page will have known my father. If you did, you will remember that Dad was charming, warm welcoming and hugely charitable. But most, he was an immensely proud and brave man who, even though he knew his chances of beating cancer were not good, never complained to his kids and was dignified to the end.

It is 10 years since Dad died and of course his family miss him every day, and it seems appropriate for me to undertake an 'anniversary' challenge to try to raise funds for the people who made his last few days as bearable as they could.

If you didn't know my father, then you may know me. You may know that I have been riding bikes for two years, have ridden from London to Paris twice raising thousands of pounds for childrens' charities.

I hope this year you will continue to support me as I become slightly more self indulgent and try to raise money for a charity closer to home. With the big fundraising events making headlines it is often the case that these smaller charities lose out, so I am trying to do my bit to help the hospice.

Please do support me in any way you feel you can. If money is tight a message of support will do.

For now then, please dip into your savings accounts and share a little and please pass details of this fundraiser to anyone who knew my Dad, or knows Richard, or me.

In anticipation, thank you so much for your support.