'Big C Big Cycle' Challenge Countdown

Cancer three times but Mandy is still 'riding high' to raise money for cancer research and Maggies Centres

Local resident Mandy Riches is counting the days before embarking on what she described as "a crazy scary challenge" to raise money for Maggie's Centres and Cancer Research UK.

Mandy, who has survived cancer three times, will pedal from Edinburgh's Maggie's Centre to London Maggie's Centre at Charing Cross Hospital which will take her up hill and down dale over 460 odd miles in five days in July. She has already raised her target of £5,000 and is hoping to increase this to £7,500.

You can watch Mandy's video at http://youtu.be/K8Jq2zXvXxg

During the cycle ride she will be posting on her public Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BigCBigCycle and twitter https://twitter.com/AmandaRiches

Mandy Riches

Mandy says; "After facing Hodgkins Lymphoma twice in the 1990s, it was a huge disappointment when I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2011/12. I look back to two years ago and I still vividly remember the excitement I felt when I was actually able to pull a t-shirt over my head, simply because a couple of weeks earlier this easy task that I used to take for granted, would have generated excruciating pain post my surgery. This third time going through cancer also hit me much harder emotionally."

However, now she feels fitter and healthier and has been training hard to raise funds for Maggie's and also for Cancer Research UK.

The route Mandy will take over five days

"I feel incredibly lucky, and I am very grateful for the support of my family and friends, the wonderful team and people I have met at the Maggies Cancer Centre in London, and the sheer amount of research that is undertaken to beat this disease that touches so many people.

"Cancer Research UK carries out fantastic work. Maggie's serves a different purpose but one which is just as important at this horrible time, offering anyone and everyone affected by cancer free practical, emotional and social support across several centres throughout the UK.

"Maggie's was there for me and I want to help make sure they can continue to support others that need their services and a place just to be at this time.

Her family commented: ‘Mandy is facing the challenge of this cycle ride with the same determination that she faced cancer. The first time when she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and went through the gruelling treatment, she called it "a small blip in her life" !!!! Unfortunately it was going to hit her again a second time and once more she underwent more tough treatment, and came out smiling afterwards.

"We all thought this was the end of her experiences with cancer, so when Mandy told us she had breast cancer we were devastated. It seemed so very unfair after all she had suffered before. This time she had to have a bilateral mastectomy - which seemed so drastic.
We tried to support Mandy in every way and eventually after a lot of setbacks she came through the ordeal. We are very proud of what Mandy has battled through and now what she is aiming to achieve for a very worthy cause."


You can donate by going directly to Mandy's page on http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/bigcbigcycle

or the BigCBigCycle Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BigCBigCycle for updates.

June 25, 2014