Hi everyone!!

We (alongside Holly's fabulous friends - Noush, Ellen and Mima) are going to be taking part in the Royal Parks London Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October in memory of our dad for the Brain Tumour Charity. (cue the tears writing this!!....)

(Above picture) Dad after his surgery!! Bravest man we know.

On 18th May 2022, we lost our dad, Neil Robinson, after he courageously battled a Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). GBM is an aggressive cancerous stage four brain tumour with a shocking prognosis of 12-18 months – only 25% of patients survive 1 year and 5% survive 5 years. Dad survived 8 months. But those 8 months were invaluable in showing us the sort of person we aspire to be. Dad embodied bravery, empathy, selflessness and kindness, despite battling the monster that is cancer. His bravery was out of this world – how many people can go back to work shortly after having a 6-hour brain surgery? He taught us that you need to keep going, no matter what life throws at you and most importantly, around a month before he passed away, he told us that we need to do him proud. But what sticks with us the most from those 8 month is that throughout his diagnosis, dad was never concerned about himself, he always put others first and wanted to make sure we were ok. He did everything he possibly could to make sure we would be alright after he passed away and for that we will always be eternally grateful.

We struggle to put into words how amazing dad was, to be honest, we don't think we can otherwise we will be here all day writing a book! We will always have a very special space in our hearts for dad, as they say, it's very hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember. We'll always remember the special relationship we had – we spoke every day about anything/everything (life, work, boys – the lot!) and that will stay with us forever.

So, we want to run this half marathon for him (even though he will probably be laughing at us all the way around!) and for the brain tumour charity. The charity is so underfunded it's unbelievable – it only receives 2% of cancer research funding but yet brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. The lack of awareness around brain tumours is the same – it took dad too long to be diagnosed even though he was clearly displaying symptoms – he was sent home from A&E twice even though we knew something was wrong. So, we hope the money raised will bring us closer to a world without brain tumours and help families like ours when their worlds are torn apart by this devastating disease.

We hope this half marathon is one of many events (maybe even the full marathon next year!) where we will keep Dad's memory alive and celebrate his life. This one's for you dude, we hope you will be running this one with us!

Love you forever and always.

Thank you

Holly

About the charity

The Brain Tumour Charity is the world's leading brain tumour charity and the largest dedicated funder of research into brain tumours globally. Committed to saving and improving lives, we're moving further, faster to help every single person affected by a brain tumour. We're set on finding new treatments, offering the highest level of support and driving urgent change. And we're doing it right now. Because we understand that when you, or someone you love, is diagnosed with a brain tumour a cure really can't wait.