“I assumed it might trigger some kind of intrigue,” Kev Griffiths explains, speaking about his charity enterprise Most cancers My Arse. “My concept was that hopefully it would be one thing extra than simply a typical bike journey, which anyone and all people goes and does.”
The business veteran and member of two of Britain’s most historic biking households – the Swinnertons and the Griffiths – launched the charity this 12 months after discovering that his most cancers had returned, and that it’s now terminal.
The concept is easy, to boost funds from the biking neighborhood and additional afar by way of a problem: journey out of the saddle for so long as potential. So far, it has raised over £35,000 for numerous most cancers charities, however it isn’t the tip of the street.
“I all the time needed to do one thing for charity, however I knew that if I could not recuperate and get again to full well being, I may by no means do something extraordinary by myself that might encourage folks to donate to the trigger,” he says.
“I am not belittling anyone that raises 200 quid, 500 quid, or no matter. However I needed to do one thing larger than that. I assumed I may capitalise on my connections, contacts and do one thing that concerned extra folks, to make it extra participating and to encourage folks to take part and donate. Therefore the problem.”
Because the charity’s web site reads: “I am calling on household, pals, and cyclists all over the place to journey—with out sitting within the saddle. This problem isn’t nearly elevating funds; it’s about displaying that regardless of the obstacles, the human spirit is resilient and filled with hope.
“4 and half years in the past, I obtained the prognosis that I had a tumour in my bowel, my colon,” Griffiths tells CW of his situation. “After the primary op went nicely, 12 months on, they scanned me once more and located the most cancers had unfold to each lungs, so that they took sections out of each and gave me radiotherapy and chemotherapy to mop it up. They scanned me once more this 12 months, they usually discovered most cancers had come again very aggressively in my pelvis and each lungs once more.
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“Since April, I’ve been on chemo more often than not, and had 25 classes of radiotherapy too. The hope is that they’ll shrink the tumour within the pelvis, that’s the largest concern. As ever in my life, today, I’m ready on check outcomes earlier than we go onto the following stage. I’ve obtained a everlasting stoma, therefore the considered sitting down on a motorcycle wasn’t interesting.”
Griffiths based BikeZaar, the web platform uniting impartial bike sellers, after years within the business, and is making an attempt to make use of his connections to boost the stature of his charity.
The identify Most cancers My Arse is sort of stark, however Griffiths explains the reasoning behind it: “All of the suggestions has been superb, all people stated it wanted a reputation like this to face out as speaking level.
“We’ve obtained a great deal of occasions lined up. Hopefully there are extra challenges to return, and I need the model to proceed, whether or not that’s me or not.”
As for the problem itself, it is one which Griffiths, but additionally everybody, appears to battle with: “I felt it extra in my higher physique once I tried to do it. It’s a humorous one, while you ask anybody how far they’ll go, no person actually is aware of. We’ve had a number of who’ve finished over 20 miles, together with one man who really took his saddle out, which I assumed was a bit loopy, as a result of in the event you do want to sit down pretty rapidly…
“I assumed it might be good to have one thing enjoyable and interesting. That is about getting folks on bikes and remembering how enjoyable it may be, and we’ll see the way it goes.”
To donate, discover out extra, or participate in Most cancers My Arse go to cancermyarse.co.uk.
