600 miles. 8 days. 1 mission. To inspire young people to believe in a brighter future living through and beyond cancer.

Having experienced cancer myself between the ages of 16 and 19, I understand how lonely and isolating having cancer as a young person is. When treatment ends, the work of Ellen MacArthur truly begins because as a young person, the experience and trauma of cancer doesn't go away, even when the cancer itself is gone. 

When I finally got the all clear after three years, I couldn't believe it. Yet I missed my old hair, my old body, my old life. I felt that I'd been left behind as my friends had lived their teenage years and then left to go to university. Even when it was my turn, and I went to Durham to study, I still felt lost. 

In the pandemic, I realised and accepted that cancer is something we have to keep dealing with, even when it is no longer in our bodies. I signed up to sail with Ellen McArthur for the second time in September 2021 and remembered how amazing it felt to be with people who just... understood. 

I've now been on two sailing trips - one in Largs and one around the Isle of Wight. My final trip with the Trust will be in July 2022. After which I hope to sail with them as a volunteer.

The Ellen Mcarthur Cancer Trust is a truly awesome charity.That's why on 17-24 June 2022, I will be part of a team of 20 riders cycling 1000 km between the Trust's bases in Largs on Scotland's West Coast to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

I have a personal fundraising target of £1200, as this will cover the cost of a trip for two young people, where they can be supported in life, with, and beyond cancer.