My Mum died of primary peritoneal and colorectal  cancer in 2012. Little did we know both my sister and I had inherited a gene that led to both of us being treated for triple-negative breast cancer from 2015-17. 

During that time, my Husband Steve created a Challenge to raise money for a research team at Guy's Cancer and pulled together a team to trek 300km in canoes and on foot across the wilderness areas of Finland, the country my Mother was from.

He went on to lead a second team across the Canadian wilderness and then, some of them returned to Finnish Lapland to do a third Challenge. All 3 Challenges have raised just shy of £100,000 for Guy's Cancer.

Since recovering from 3 years of treatment I decided that I really wanted  to join their team on their fourth and final outing, returning to Canada to smash that number. 

Originally planned in 2020 but delayed by the pandemic, our team will return to northern Ontario and canoe rapids, portage swamps, paddle giant lakes and finally ditch the canoes and see how far we get down the Ottawa-Temaskaming Hiking Trail. The total distance is 292km.

As is tradition there is only one simple rule: whatever kit you canoe in with, you must carry out. This presents a unique problem to solve, just like cancer. 

Both my Father and my Father-in-law are now being treated for prostate cancer and the rest of the team have and continue to be affected by cancer in some way shape or form. Their stories will be told as part of this too. 

Everyone participating is learning to canoe and getting fit for what has been described as an "epic and brutal" adventure. 

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.