Stage 6

The question is often asked about charities "How much of the money raised is actually spent on the charitable purpose and how much is swallowed up in overheads?" A very good question. When setting up the Sam Keen Foundation the family resolved that all donations would go directly to the Royal Marsden Hospital so that every penny would be used in the battle against the cancer malignant melanoma.

A fundraising dinner was held on 2nd July. There was particluar poignancy both in the chosen date as it would have been Sam's 28th birthday and in the venue as it took place where Sam and Ali were married. The proceeds of that eveing brought the grand total raised to date to an amazing £130,000.

The guest speaker that night was Professor Martin Gore, the medical director of the Royal Marsden and the consultant who had cared for Sam. He was able to announce that the money raised will be used to set up The Sam Keen Fellowship. Working in conjunction with leading oncology centres in Amsterdam and Los Angeles, there will be enough money to pay for 18 months of research into the next generation of cancer immunotherapy treatment. Professor Gore explained that there had been very encouraging results already in some patients, but that it was vital to ascertain why this worked for some but not for others, including Sam. He went on to say that really they need funds to appoint a research doctor for a full 2 years. The SKF is up for that challenge certainly and, perhaps with the help of you, dear reader, we can raise the extra £40,000 needed!

Prof. Gore announcing The Sam Keen Fellowship

So a great month for the SKF and pretty good for my training too. I rode my first cycle sportive since my hand op and clocked up just under 100 miles (well, 96 to be precise - I did think of riding round and round the block until the bike computer was showing 3 figures...but then decided that was silly and I was ready for a nice cup of tea.

Pretty good month for British sport too. No, I am not referring to the England football team's reasonably good showing at Euro 2012 before their inevitable exit or even Andy Murray making it to the final at Wimbledon. In case you haven't noticed, we have our very own Bradley Wiggins leading the toughest sporting event that exists, the Tour de France. If that wasn't enough, his team mate and fellow Brit Chris Froome is in second place. In the 99 year history of the Tour there has never been a British winner.

Only a few days to go - come on Wiggo!!!

Also, my Ride Across Britain cycling jersey has arrived which seems to underline the fact that this mega-ride is really happening in less than 2 months time.

Not so much "Done that, got the T-shirt" but more like "Got the T-shirt, now need to do THAT!"

By the way, my dog (Monty) is not joining me on the Ride Across Britain although he is a keen and accomplished cyclist in his own right....to be explained in due course. He just wanted to get in the picture.