I had a really enjoyable time meeting sports presenter Jim Rosenthal in my home town of Maidenhead. He was such an interesting man to talk to, and great fun at the same time. We chatted for over and hour, but if I am honest I could have spent the whole day talking to him. It's going to make for a great chapter in the book, and as well as a great first record, Jim is also very kindly allowing me to use a photo from his personal collection in the book, which is quite wonderful. I'd only made contact with Jim a few days ago, but he came through for immediately, and we arranged this meeting in just a few days. The meeting place was also of great interest, and all will be revealed in the book next year.
The new fundraising booked, to be called The Record, is being written in memory of my mum who passed away from bowel cancer in 2016. All proceeds raised will be donated to Bowel Cancer UK (Beating Bowel Cancer Together). As well as the fundraising, the book will help raise awareness about this awful disease. If detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases, but this figure drops to just 7% at the late stage 4. At the moment only 15% of patients are detected at stage 1, and so early detection rates need to improve to improve survival rates.
