To celebrate my recovery from bowel cancer, I am running the Swansea Half Marathon in June 2023, and would love it if you could join me in raising money for three of my favourite charities: Maggie’s Swansea, Sketty Foodbank, and Crisis for their work in Swansea.

I’ll explain why I chose these charities a bit later, but if you would like to donate now, please click on one of the links at the bottom of the page, preferably the one with the lowest current total so we can try to raise equal amounts for each and maybe reach my ambitious target of £2,000 for each. Sketty Foodbank doesn’t have a fundraising page so I have set up a crowdfunding page (https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jason-rudd-skettyfoodbank) and will pass all donations on to them.

In June 2022 I was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which kicked off the scariest and most difficult period of my life. I went through surgery in August, and then “mop-up” chemotherapy, which was brutal in the side effects. With love and support from my family, friends, and of course the incredible nurses, doctors, phlebotomists, secretaries, porters and too many other functions to list at the Chemotherapy Day Unit at Singleton hospital, I came through it. In February 2023, after a CT scan and blood tests, I was told I was cancer-free. It was time to look to the future and complete my recovery.

I have been a runner (to a modest level) for many years, but never much more than about 10km. After surgery and through chemo I kept running where I could, but only very short distances and only in the chemo off-weeks. After the end of chemo and the bout of covid that followed, I decided in January 2023 to take my fitness back and started running more and further.

I have long thought a half marathon would be within my reach. During chemo I said to my brother Barnaby (who is a fitness coach), that “if I get through this…”, I would like to give the Swansea half-marathon a go. He offered to given me a training plan and to run it with me. Having been given the “cancer-free” and with the Swansea Half Marathon in June 2023 it seems that now is the time.

I couldn’t pick just one charity to raise money for, so have chosen 3, and I have set myself a ridiculously ambitious target of raising £6,000 – so that each charity gets about £2,000. If you would like to help me reach this target, I would be really grateful if you could choose whichever charity has the lowest total and give as much as you can. That way hopefully we can keep the totals approximately equal. Sketty Foodbank’s page isn’t yet active but hopefully soon will be.

The first charity I have chosen is Maggie’s. Maggie’s Swansea has been a safe (and warm and dry) place on the grounds at Singleton Hospital, where Jennifer and I have been able to go, be welcomed and given a cup of tea, and sit, talk and regroup before going back out to face all the scary medical appointments and the world outside. They run counselling, support groups and various other services.

Secondly, it has struck me that for all we as a family have been going through, I have been incredibly fortunate that putting food on the table is not one of the things I have had to worry about. This is not the case for everybody, including some of the wonderful people who have been looking after me in the hospital. The need for food banks has been on the rise in recent years, and I have chosen to support my local one, Sketty Foodbank.

Finally, there are all too many people for whom even getting a roof over their heads is a problem. This is a very complex issue, but there are people who know far more than me about the kind of support that our homeless brothers and sisters need. I have chosen to support Crisis for their work in Swansea.

To donate to Maggie’s or Crisis please click on one of the links below. To donate to Sketty Foodbank please go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jason-rudd-skettyfoodbank.