As many of you may know Gemma was diagnosed with breast cancer very recently. This was discovered unexpectedly and in unbelievable circumstances. It’s been a tough few weeks for us as a family and things have accelerated really quickly.

Gemma will be starting her treatment and her long battle to beat this very soon and she is staying positive and determined to win the battle there is no doubt that the next year is going to be a tough one but she’s a fighter.

During the last few weeks Gemma and I have been back and forth to the hospital but there one thing we keep hearing “Go to Maggie’s when you start your treatment, they’re amazing” so many times we’ve heard this so we had to pop in and see for ourselves.

Maggie’s Northeast is based right behind the Freeman Hospital cancer treatment centre and we were personally welcomed at the door by Debra a cancer support specialist. Debra was amazing. She talked about Gemma’s treatment plan and what she could expect over the coming months. She also provided us with an activity kit for our 6 year old son Finn which helps to explain in children’s terms what Mum is going through.

The centre itself is amazing and modern. There’s lots of sunny quiet corners to go sit and relax or reflect, whether that be before a hospital appointment or after or even if you just fancy popping in for a cuppa and the most amazing cheese scones I’ve ever tasted! 😋 you’ll always be welcome. That’s why it’s quoted as being “Everyone’s cancer care home” 🧡

They have a timetable of events activities and meet ups also so you can meet other patients and share you experiences and support one another. It truly is an amazing place.

Anyhow I could talk about all the good things they do for ever but let’s get down to the reason this page is set up….

Maggie’s is a charity that has centre at some of the major cancer treatment centres in the UK. They offer support to patients and their families. They receive no funding apart from the kindness of donations and gifts from wills. It costs £2400 per day to run the centre and provide the love and support they offer. Hence the total of this page being £2400 although the more raised the better. ***edit you guys are awesome and we’ve smashed the initial target. Let’s see if we can double it and provide two days funding***

As many of you will know I’m quite active and can’t sit still for 5 minutes.

So….. Gemma, myself and Finn will certainly be using this amazing charity while Gemma battles her way to recovery. Maggie’s Northeast is 10 years old this year so what better way to raise some decent funds than to take part in 10 challenges for 10 years of Maggie’s

10x10forGem

I’ve scheduled 10 various challenges throughout the year. They are gonna be tough, in fact some very tough but figure if Gemma can battle through cancer then I can manage to battle through this.

Events are as follows:-

*March 10th David Goggins 4x4x48 in a nutshell running 4 mile every 4 hours for 48 hours

*March 17th Dark Skies Weekend which involves running 10 mile on the Friday, a marathon on the Saturday and 14 mile on the Sunday all done in the night in Kielder Forest

*April 16th Manchester Marathon

*May 20th Yorkshire 3 Peaks

*June 11th Great North Swim - 1 mile in Lake Windermere

*June 17th The Wall Ultramarathon 70 mile from Carlisle to Newcastles Millennium Bridge

*June 30th Maggie’s Coastal Crawl walk Gemma and Finn, Hannah and Jack will be taking part in this with me

*July 15th Ultra North 55K

July 29th 1000 mile relay event - minimum of 30 mile pledged with a view to running more

*August 27th Great North Bike ride - 60 mile Seahouses to Tynemouth

*September 9th Pilgrims 50k Ultra Marathon

*September 10th Great North Run

*September Maggies 100k challenge

And last up

*October 15th Yorkshire Marathon

A busy schedule but a very worth while cause. If you can spare and monies no matter how big or small it would be massively appreciated by myself, Maggie’s and of course Gemma 🧡

#10x10forGem

#teamorange

#maggiesNE

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I’ll update you often as the journey progresses with Gemma’s fight, with challenges and of course the great work Maggie’s continue to do via my social media

@geordie_shaun_runs on instagram

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