For half the price of a Starbucks...

18 days until taking on a slightly ridiculous Olympic Triathlon in the inspiring Birmingham of all places. 1500m Swim. 26 mile swim. 6 mile run. Ooooh crap.

Around this time last year my grandad passed away after a long old battle with cancer. In fact, I wasn’t aware when signing up that it will be the year anniversary week since he died.

Everyone reacts to grief differently. My reaction was to try and put a positive spin on things - signing up for this triathlon seemed like a good way to do just that. I’m trying to justify this terrible plan in my head as it is an opportunity to use his spirit to spur on to do something cool, but also a chance to help others. There aren’t many people I’ve spoken to who don’t have their own stories of this stupid disease. That’s why I’m raising money for Cancer Research with this event.

So an idea – I have 748 amount of friends on LinkedIn, I’ve only got ￡49.50 to reach the target of ￡1000 (my boss is matching everything up to ￡500 pound for pound). The minimum donation is two pounds on JustGiving. I’m not asking anyone to donate who can’t, but if 25 people (or 3.34% of my friends list) can spare a couple of quids for something bigger than every one of us, it’ll be hella appreciated, not just by me, but more importantly by those who will benefit from the money – which could be any of us.

Furthermore, it would be a great gesture if you could spread the word about this by liking, sharing and commenting on here (Facebook will think this post is more important if you do).

The target is so close, but it would be great to smash it. Two quid isn’t a lot, but the cumulative effect could help send shockwaves across the world. For my part, I’m going to continue sweating and swearing at myself while I stumble through every step of this with grandad, and everyone who supported me through it at my back.

Donate at https://bit.ly/ACoupleOfQuid

Cheers!