Martin Stuart Gillott was tragically diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer in July 2020, and died a mere two and a half months later on October 2nd 2020. He always lived life to the full, and at just 55 years old, was seemingly fit and healthy.

A group of friends and family have decided to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats in memory of Martin - we will have many stories to tell whilst we are on the road. He was a larger than life character, always had an opinion, sometimes controversial, never dull. His debates at the dinner table were legendary.

Martin spent six years as an officer in the Queen's Gurkha Engineers and absolutely loved his time serving in Nepal, Brunei and Hong Kong. During those years he was never happier than using his engineering skills to build schools, bridges and water projects and generally improve the quality of life in some very remote villages. He always said that just getting clean water into a village was totally life changing for the community, and after the horrific earthquake in 2015 there is so much infrastructure to re-build.

The Gurkha Welfare Trust was Martin's chosen charity every time he ran a marathon. Before he passed away, Martin wanted to run another fundraiser for the Gurkha Welfare Trust. Sadly his illness was brutally quick and he never had a chance.

We have identified a specific school project in Nepal, which we plan to use funds to complete, as it is so far only half built. The remaining funds needed are around £150,000 so we are setting a substantial target to make Martin's legacy count and have a tangible memorial for him. Please click here to view more detail on the project.

We're also raising funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. It is simply unacceptable that more than half the people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die within 3 months of that diagnosis. Many, like Martin, become too ill too quickly to have any chemotherapy at all, let alone participate in vital clinical trials.

Martin was offered a place on a key trial in Oxford and was offered full genome sequencing as part of that to help tailor a bespoke treatment, but he deteriorated too fast to benefit from it. We hope that through our fund raising we can help to make the new treatments available to more patients. Time is absolutely critical for a patient with pancreatic cancer and earlier diagnosis is something PCUK are really pushing for.

Pancreatic Cancer UK is dedicated to changing the terminal outcome using every possible means. They are supporting people with pancreatic cancer now - campaigning and funding vital research for both early diagnosis and effective treatment.

Thank you so much for your generosity and support.