3 years ago I was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney cancer and on 19 November 2020 my right kidney was removed.

As you can probably imagine a cancer diagnosis never comes at a good time, but during the depths of Covid it was even less welcome as hospitals faced severe restrictions and the need to avoid contracting Covid was even more imperative to guarantee my operation took place as planned.

After a successful operation, I then underwent a year of immunotherapy to try to reduce the likelihood of the cancer returning.

These were challenging times and there are many people who deserve and have received my thanks for their love and support during that time. And now three years later I feel ready both to talk about it more widely, and to give back.

Whilst on this cancer journey I began volunteering with Reduce Our Carbon, a young but brilliant charity which funds initiatives in Central America to fight climate change and help provide a better future not just for its local partners, but all of us.

So, to commemorate the three year anniversary of becoming a single-kidneyed human on the 18th and 19th of November I will be I will be walking 100km on the Devon/Cornwall border going from north to south in a ‘coast-to-coast’ challenge in an attempt to raise enough money to fund the manufacture and installation of smokeless fuel stoves for 25 households in the hill-farming community of La Cruz in Nicaragua.

And for those of you who don’t really care about long walks and endurance events (for me at least), at the end of it I will be shaving my hair off which has not been cut in over three years, when I last had two kidneys.

Please consider supporting this cause - these stoves will:

Bring money into the local economy by employing local people to manufacture and install the stoves

Improve the health of the mainly women and children who are involved in the preparation of food by eliminating the smoke which usually fills the home

Positively impact the climate - by using less wood through their efficient burning design, they release less carbon dioxide, a climate warming greenhouse gas, saving around 15 tonnes of carbon over its lifetime.

Positively impact the climate - by requiring less wood, more trees are left in the ground to protect the soil, enhance biodiversity and store carbon.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.