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I am participating in three Off-Road Duathlons this winter.  Each duathlon race comprises of cross country running, mountain biking then another cross county run in challenging terrain in the North Downs, Surrey.

In December 2012 my friend Vincent lost his youngest son, Sacha, from a brain tumour. He was 2 years old.  Their world stopped spinning. By all accounts he was a lovely playful boy with a gorgeous smile and a fondness for wrestling with his big brother, Oliver. 

Vincent and his wife Hannah wanted friends and family to support a World Child Cancer project in Malawi in lieu of flowers at Sacha’s funeral as they learned that children were dying from some very treatable forms of cancer and that palliative care without the intervention of the charity frequently amounted to little more than paracetamol.  They raised more than the annual cost of treatment for the 200 children that are typically treated each year at the paediatric oncology unit of the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Balantyre.

With the help of World Child Cancer, Vincent and his wife, Hannah, set-up the Sacha Gauci Remembrance Fund which will be a lasting legacy to Sacha and a way of allowing his family to continue to support the project in Malawi.  The fund has currently raised over £42k due to the phenomenal fundraising efforts lead by Vincent, his brother Claude and his friends and family. However, we can do more to ensure a better life for children in Malawi. £3200 will support the paediatric oncology unit and the twinning partnership established by World Child Cancer for one month. My goal this winter is to support the project for a minimum of ten days - circa £1,000 - so that children with survivable cancer can receive curative treatment and so that those sadly dying from cancer can receive the morphine that they need.

So my challenge is to compete in the three Off-Road Duathlons organised by Human Race over winter 2014/15. They each have somewhat amusing names - Wildman. Iceman and Mudman! The first two are 10km run/18km bike/5km run and Mudman a mere 7.5km run/15km bike/7.5km run. Ouch! They are all held at Army or Military training grounds in the North Downs, Surrey, so are not for the faint hearted. There will be mud, sand, water, numerous hills and the added challenge of the UK's winter weather! A worthwhile challenge for a worthy charity in memory of Sacha, so please dig deep. 

Surprisingly little goes a very long way when helping children with cancer in Malawi. Here are some examples of how your donation can make a very real difference to these children:

·         £6 buys pain relief drugs for one child with cancer

·         £30 buys life-saving chemotherapy drugs for one child with Burkitts lymphoma

·         £55 buys two hospital meals a day for 6 children for a month

·         £154 will provide nursing care for 10 children for a month

·         £308 will pay for awareness raising posters to encourage increased referral and earlier diagnosis

·         £926 will provide specialist training for a week for 10 healthcare professionals.

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.