Month: April 2017

This is such a wonderful time of the year. Quite apart from the message of resurrection associated with Easter there are constant reminders that the world around is reawakening from the cold dark winter.

As I cycle through the South Cambridgeshire countryside the sight of new born lambs in the fields, birds busily nest building, and lines of daffodils lift the spirits. I have been clocking up the miles in the last couple of weeks, feeling much stronger than before. However I am also devoting a fair amount of time to working on our allotment. This is the busiest time of the year; weeding, preparing the soil, and sowing.

There is always time though to find time for a break with the neighbours.

As the seedlings tentatively push through the soil seeking sunshine I am reminded that come what may life goes on.

Most of you won’t have heard of Maggie’s. In fact neither had I until a couple of years ago when I saw their publicity posters adorning the walls of the Oncology Department at the hospital but I instantly dismissed it as a place that other people would use. But ever since I started going there I have been made to feel so welcome and they have done so much to help me cope with the side effects of the drugs that I have decided to give them half of the money I raise on the bike ride.

Maggie’s is a charity which provides drop-in centres for cancer sufferers and their families. They originated in Scotland but now have centres across the UK and I can testify that they provide an amazing and vital service.

The staff and volunteers are always cheerful and welcoming and it is a real haven of bonhomie where having cancer is normal and where you don’t feel as though you have to pretend you are OK. Having said that, nearly all the other visitors I have met are incredibly positive.