Raising money for Macmillian Cancer Support

For many years I have used my LinkedIn profile to help spread the word with like-minded professionals about my attempt to fundraise for my chosen Cancer Charities. With the number of people living with cancer in the UK set to grow to around 4 million people by 2030, Macmillan Cancer Support, my chosen cancer charity in 2019, faces an urgent need to help more people face the complex physical, financial and emotional impacts of the disease.

As a little reminder I have been raising money for Cancer Charities since 2013. So far I have raised over ￡40,000 for Charities and one very special little girl in need of a stem cell transplant. 

For those that don't know me I took up cycling as a result of sports injuries and most recently I crashed my bicycle and fractured my pelvis in two places and chipped a bone in my back. I can vouch that safety helmets do work!! During a period of self-care, in 2018 I pushed myself and completed 12 global sportive's climaxing with the L'Etape Australia. The time has come to get my butt (not just my Derailleur) back into gear and have again chosen 12 global multi day and multi terrain races climaxing with an extreme MTB stage race in Africa.

So far this year I have already completed 9 events with many 100 + milers, but the biggest one is still to come. In September I have been accepted to take part in the Rift Valley Odyssey (RVO) in Kenya. Riding by GPS I will self-navigate the route for 5 days that will take me along the Great Rift Valley and finishing in the iconic Maasai Mara where approximately 2 million animals migrate between Serengeti and Maasai Mara National Parks. The RVO is touted as probably the most unique mountain bike adventure race in the world with challenging single track, bush trails, forest trails, fast descents and arduous accents at peak race altitude of 2800m. There will no doubt be many times when I am completely alone and wondering what lies ahead….maybe a lion!!! Rest assured there will be safety marshals on motorbikes and medical teams strategically placed along the route and each day I will sleep in a single dome tent where I hope to catch up with other adventure seekers.

Believe me, since I fractured my pelvis the 100 milers are a long day in the saddle and pretty uncomfortable on my sit bones. I have come to believe that you can do anything you want and whether or not it’s going to be too hard doesn’t matter. I focus on other things, like the scenery and no matter how demoralizing the weather, the hills or the headwinds and how sore my butt might be, I think about how satisfied I will feel at the end for helping those suffering from cancer. 

I will be extremely grateful if you read my full story and updates, and make a donation to Macmillian, no matter how big or small, means they can support more people to live their fullest life.

Please click on the link https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/neil-reynolds14

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs.

Take care and thank you,

Neil