Kidney Cancer Bloggers Have your Say

Well, I got into a little bother yesterday for publishing yesterday’s blog so I’ll stick to a topic I know I’m safe with (it will be re-published later)

The great news is the Arch to Arc cycle ride has reached well over 50% of the £20,000 target and we’ve still got a lot of time left.  Keep up the good work everyone! This is really going to make a difference.

Cycle Weekly have kindly donated a number of copies of one their latest editions which contains a pretty good training plan to get people from 0 miles to 100 miles in a day.  We’ll be sending these out shortly to each of the riders along with a registration form that we want everyone to complete.

On the sporty front I’m getting more than a little nervous about the Cross Country Ski marathon in a few weeks time, I don’t feel anywhere near enough ready for it.  I just wish we could have some more time in the snow before we go.  Other people are doing seeding marathons before the event and our Austria marathon seems a long time ago now.  I keep on telling myself that it’s not a race and if I dont complete it this year it doesn’t matter and there’s always next year.

However, at least I feel my cycling’s getting better.  I even dug out my birthday card from my sister this morning to give me some motivation.

The Birthday Card

It was great to receive this, much as I hate the Moon Pig adverts the output is great.

I’m pretty much ready to do the exploratory ride to Paris and it’s just a case of picking the right few days now. Hopefully next week, but we’ll see, it’s very dependant on a few commitments I have and the weather.

So there we are, a short update.  Just a few more riders to confirm and sign up now and then we’re off!

Please sponsor me by clicking on either of these links VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

I’ve been asked by a few people about the training regime they need to be following in order to complete the bike ride.  And it’s a fair question.

Well, we’ve been lucky enough to secure the support of a UK cycling magazine that have allowed us to distribute a training plan they recommend that gets people from zero to 100 miles in about 12 weeks.  So basically what I’m saying is …. There is time!!

They’ve suggested we modify the plan slightly so it fits our purposes but as it stands it’s a set of (I think) achievable goals each week with plenty of rest days.  We can’t distribute it just yet as they’ve agreed to send us copies of the whole magazine.  So be patient.

If any of you are following me on facebook you’ll see I’ve started cycling already.  Don’t think that this means you need to go hell for leather at the same pace…. I have 2 good reasons for needing to do it now rather than leaving it until later 1) I intend to cycle the route in the next couple of weeks to make sure it’s feasible, pleasant and to try and pick out some points of interest and 2) I have a 90K Cross-Country Ski marathon to try and complete in March and cycling is a great way of building up leg muscle and aerobic capacity without the impact of running.

Given it’s quite cold and dark at the moment there isn’t the desire for all of us to get the bike out of the garage, which makes it hard. My advice (for what it’s worth) is to get out when you can and just get used to being in the saddle, don’t worry too much about distance and pace at this stage (I’m not).  I always find that my first week back in the saddle consists of riding on alternative days until the saddle sore subsides (which it does I promise you).  After the first week I can then start focusing on building up the distance and speed.

If you’re a member of a gym and you don’t want to cycle on cold wet days (understandable) then spin classes are pretty good.  I may give them a go myself.  My partner (Jane) is a personal trainer so I’ll get her to see if she can put a few bits and pieces together.

Keep in mind that with the exception of day 1 from London to Dover (c.75 Miles) these are not huge daily distances.  The key will be as we get closer to June is to make sure that you go out on consecutive training days to ensure you’re capable of doing one day after another. Anyway this will all be part of the plan.

I’ll say again as I’ve said a few times, this is not a race, so we wont all be tearing off all over the place.  It’s the first time the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer has run the event and to that end this year will be a “pathfinder” which is why we’re keeping it to around 20 people.   It should be a great mix of people from all over the country and a chance to make some new friends.  We even have one person from Houston Texas flying over to ride with us!

As part of the training pack we’ll also be sending out a registration form to all the entrants so we have everyone’s details and requirements along with the terms and conditions.

And now for the really great news!  We’ve raised over 50% of the money so far, which is just incredible!   Upwards and onwards and thanks to everyone’s efforts.

Please sponsor me by clicking on either of these links VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

Happy New Year to everyone and I’m sorry not to have written sooner, however I’ve been away in Austria on a Cross Country Skiing training week which culminated in a 42K marathon.  There are now places on my body that I didn’t know existed that ache!  But what a sport I can really recommend it if you are looking for a low impact sport that gives a full body workout.

This is all building me up to a 90K Ski Marathon this March called the Vassalopet in Sweden. I’m still not sure if I’ll be fit enough to get through it this time round, but we’ll give it a bash.  If successful (or near to) this year then I’ll do it as a sponsored event for the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer next year.

I was pleasantly shocked when I got back to see that we’ve got a couple of new riders who’ve created VirginGiving pages and even better we’ve reached 33% of the target (£20,000).  How brilliant is that!  I know we have more riders to come so this is a significant milestone.

When I think of what this money can do to help us push for greater awareness of Kidney Cancer, patient events, specific training for nurses, campaigning etc it really inspires me to do more.

We simply have to get this hideous disease on the agenda and out of the rarer cancer category.  It is the 8th most prevalent Cancer, higher than either Leukaemia or Cervical Cancer for example and yet both these have higher visibility.  Why is this?

The greater the visibility the more chance we have of getting a voice at the table when it comes to availability of treatments.  This has to change.

Anyway, off the soapbox and back the Arch to Arc Cycle ride to Paris. Half the riders have signed up now with VirginGiving pages and more are on the way.  If you are still contemplating signing up then go for it!! Entrance to the event will be closing in the next few weeks so we can focus on the organisational and fundraising aspects.  Here are the instructinos again if you need them, click on this link.

I’m still hoping to be meeting with the Fund on Friday this week (work permitting) so I’ll have a fuller update after that.

As a slight side issue one of the riders cycling friend’s is selling a couple of bikes if you feel the urge! (probably suit 5′6 – 5′10 rider).  Here are the details:

Little used size medium Planet X Carbon Pro SL (colour: Blue)

• Veloce front & rear mech
• Mirage 10sp shifters
• Chorus 10sp Carbon chain set 172.5 53/39
• Campagnolo Record square taper 102mm bottom bracket
• Mavic Aksyium wheels black
• Conti GP3000 700*23 tyres
• Veloce brakes
• FSA compact bars PLT Pro stem
• Trans-X 31.6 carbon seat pin
• Outland anatomic saddle

A bargain at £600!

ALSO:

Ambrosio: Celcius full Carbon clear coat frame: 53/54cm centre to top, 54cm top tube c-c, 135mm head tube (very good condition – only used as best bike)

• Campagnolo Chorus brakes
• Campagnolo Chorus 10sp Carbon shifters
• Campagnolo Record alloy square taper 102mm bottom bracket
• Campagnolo Record alloy chain set 172.5mm 53/39
• Ambrosio Excellight black 28h wheels
• Gommitalia Logosport 700/23 tyres (brand new)
• FSA carbon seat pint 27.2MM (BRAND NEW)
• Fizik Aliante saddle (brand new)
• Ambrosio Inverse stem
• FSA strada handle bars (BRAND NEW)
• Chorus front mech
• Centaur rear mech 10sp alloy

Also a bargain £500!

If you are interested then let me know and I’ll give you the contact details.

More news to come but keep those donations coming in!!

Please sponsor me at either VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

Things are really starting to push forward, we’ve had one or two more riders setup their VirginGiving pages and we’re topping 27% of the target already!  This is way beyond where I’d hoped we’d be by this time.  Sally is storming away with sponsorship money, over £1000 in a mater of weeks!! Having said that this is no time to get complacent and we still have a long way to go to get to that £20,000 goal. 

As another reminder for those wishing to ride, don’t forget to get your deposits in ASAP, here are the instructions again (click this link to my previous blog). Half the riders have already signed up, so don’t delay or you’ll miss the opportunity to ride with us this time round.

As for next steps, well, I’ll be meeting up with the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer on the 15^th January 2010 to look at booking the Hotels and Ferry/Rail journeys, and as I said previously I’ll be looking to do an exploratory trip of the route towards the end of January (and I know others may well join me).

Outside of this things are ticking away nicely.  We have the prospect of getting a couple of major sponsors which will be amazing.  I know we have PR in place and that we’ll have coverage at the start and finish line but if anyone knows how to engage any other media channels between now and the big day then please let me know.

Anyway, that’s it for now.  Have a great festive season! Don’t worry about over doing the mince pies and turkey ….. the training starts for real in January!!

Merry Christmas!!

Please sponsor me at either VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

We have over 7 months to go and within just 2 months we’ve already reached 20% of our £20,000 target.  This is fantastic news!  We still have well over 20 people (closer to 30) who want to do the ride so I’m very encouraged that just 6 people have already managed to reach 20% …. Just think what we can achieve once everyone starts fundraising.

To that end I’d just like to remind those of you that have signed up that now is the time to get you deposits in and start your fundraising efforts.  The full instructions are available here in my previous blog. 

At the James Whale Fund we’re really keen to get the hotels and ferries booked in January so we can relax on that point and focus all our energies on fundraising. So please please if you want to come on the ride get your VirginGiving pages created and your deposits in now, and remember, we’re restricting this to just 20 people in year 1 … so don’t dawdle or you’ll miss the boat … literally!

Over the course of the next few weeks we’ll also be checking out the route. I’m debating cycling it, but I’ll need to see if I can get somebody willing to follow by car so I have some support …..  3 days in the same clothes …. not a pleasant thought, especially for those sitting near me on the train on the way back.

I’m still very excited about the whole thing and can’t wait to get going … real French bread, soft cheese and the odd bit of Red Wine of course …. Heaven!

Please sponsor me at either VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

Hi Everyone !  It’s been a couple of weeks since I wrote to you all and gave you an update as to where we were.

Well, things are coming along a pace, the team is negotiating hotels etc and it all seems to be getting there as planned, however there is still much to do and we need your help!

The good news is that we’re getting more and more interest from people wanting to cycle which is very encouraging …. Well over 40 so far !!  

Now, here’s the tough bit and where you can help.  As I’ve mentioned before we are trying to keep the numbers in at around 20 people to make sure it goes off without a hitch in the first year……  so,  you’ll need to get your skates on to sign up and get your £300 deposits into the fund by Jan 2^nd 2010 as places will go fast.  To date we have already raised over 17% of the £20,000 target which is great news.

I sent out a notification to everyone a week or so ago asking folks to setup their VirginGiving pages as soon as possible.  If you are struggling with VirginGiving (as a number of people have been) then feel free to create a JustGiving page instead if you find it easier, but be quick as we’ll will be cutting off any new entries once we get to 20. 

I realise a number of you have signed up to say “Yes” on the Facebook page,  however we will still need the firm commitment of a ViginGiving or JustGiving page + the £300 deposit … this is what will secure your entry.

So, to avoid disappointment be as quick as you can!

As always if you’ve got any problems creating your pages or you need any aspects of the event explaining then please don’t hesitate to contact either myself or Nikki Grant at the fund.

http://www.jameswhalefund.org/ArchToArc2010.html

Thanks for the support!

Please sponsor us at either VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

The time has come to ask for everyone’s commitment to the event. There are twenty (20) places available on the event and these places are fast being filled, so it’s time for the next stage!

For those of you who have not already read, there has been a slight change of the route which you can see on the James Whale Fund For Kidney Cancer web-site.  Because of the logistics we’ve added an extra day and we’ll now be travelling via Dover rather than Newhaven.  Newhaven is very restrictive as there’s only 2 ferries a day at very awkward times, and we felt it best to make it more gentle and fun event rather than feel we’re chasing ferry times too much.

If you want to help but can’t cycle then can I please ask you to donate as much as you’re able to the cause by clicking on this Link

Can I ask that each of you that are cycling with us to create a Virgin MoneyGiving page  and start your fundraising activities now. It may seem early in the game, however we are getting close to Christmas and the New Year and June will be upon us sooner than we think. To create a page, follow these instructions:

• Goto VirginGiving
• Click “Start FundRaising”
• Click “Organised Event”
• Select June 2010 as the “Event Date” and then Click “Find Event” or Search for Arch to Arc as the event name.
• Select “Arch to Arc Cycle Ride” from the list then Click “Next” (Make sure that it’s the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer)
• Put in £1000 in your “How much are you planning to raise”
• Select “No” to “Has your Charity contributed to the cost of the event”
• Select “Just me” in answer to the “Are you fundraising on your own or with other people?*” question (seems a bit odd given we are a team, but trust me it does odd things if you select “With others”
• Then Select “Next” and follow the instructions from there, where you can put up a photo and description etc.

That should be it, from there you’re up and running and ready to start!!

Now for the official part
———————————
On January 2nd 2010 we will be asking for a £300 deposit from each rider. If you’ve already collected this amount or more on your Virgin MoneyGiving page then you wont need to send the deposit. The deposit will be used by the fund to ensure we’ve booked all the ferry, train and hotels well in advance.

There are 4 simple ways of getting the deposit to the fund:

• The simplest way by far is to raise £300 by 2nd January 2010 on Virgin MoneyGiving, that way you don’t have to pay personally.
• Add £300 to your Virgin MoneyGiving target (i.e. £1300) and donate directly from there. I think this is the simplest way and gets your Virgin MoneyGiving page on the way!
• Go to the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer web-site and click on the “One-Off Donation” link on Home Page. This will take you to PayPal, follow the instructions from there.
• Send a cheque for £300 to this address:

James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer
46-48 King Street
Cambridge
CB1 1LN

Once you have raised and donated a total of £1,000 from sponsors, we will return your deposit of £300 if you have paid the £300 personally. For example – if you have raised £900 in sponsorship, then you would receive £200 from your deposit. If you raised £1,000 or over, and personally paid your deposit, you would receive a full refund of £300.

If you fail to raise £1000 by the day of the event we will ask you to make up the difference between the amount you have raised through sponsorship and £1000.

Remember, you have between now and January 2nd 2010 before the deposit is due, so use this time to raise as much as you can as it may save you having to pay the deposit.

As soon as we’ve reached 20 people, with 20 pages then I will send a mail round saying that entrants are closed. So this is on a first come first served basis! (be aware that we have well over 20 people who have expressed and interest in the event). If any of the 20 backs out for whatever reason and you were unable to secure a place then we will call upon people from the reserve list.

If you’ve paid the £300 deposit personally and you have to pull out of the event before the 28th February 2010 then you will receive a full refund, after that the deposit becomes non-refundable.

Please could you also all send me your e-mail address and contact number so we can get in touch more directly as and when required. There are a number of people not on Facebook that are also coming along and it would be easier if we can do this kind of stuff via e-mail as well.

End of the official part
——————————-
I will keep everyone informed via the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer Arch to Arc web-page. I’ll also be publishing progress via the KidneyCancerBloggers web-site.

That’s it for now! We have a £20,000 target to reach and we’ve already raised about £2000 of this, so now it’s your turn!

If you find any of this confusing or you have any questions then please feel free to call either myself, Nikki Grant or Sarah Ridge at the Fund on 01799 585 033.

I look forward to you taking part and good luck with the Fund Raising!!

Please sponsor us at either VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

There’s lots of activity at the moment on the Kidney Cancer front, and it’s such a pleasure to see the momentum picking up.  Here’s a few highlights …..

• Clive Stone is “rolling” out his campaign again for the new drugs to be made available.  Please, please all you Kidney Cancer patients/families/friends respond to Clive’s request at this link.  Thanks to Clive’s efforts we had enormous success last year when we all campaigned outside the NICE HQ in London, so lets see if we can do it again!
• James Whale will be hosting and event in Wales, Swansea at the Dragon Hotel on 21^st November– “Whale in Wales” I suppose you could brand it.  This sounds like a great night out, if you want more information then check out this link.  As I’ve said before these evenings are always great fun.  If you’ve ever had anything to do with James before then you’ll know he’s not exactly backwards in coming forwards which always adds an extra spark to any event.
• On top of this a lot of work is going on in the background leading up to the Kidney Cancer Patients Day on 18^th November.  Make sure you all sign up to this, it’s the day after my birthday and I’ll be deeply offended if you don’t come along !

On a personal front it’s been one of those weeks where I appear to be doing nothing and yet there is so much going on I hardly know where to start.  A definite feeling of spinning my wheels.

Work’s in complete turmoil as we wait patiently to discover whether we’ve got jobs or not, motivation is down on a grand scale, and they’ve set the date to mid/end of November to decide our fate.  This date has slipped twice so far, so you can only imagine just how much people’s sensitivities have risen.

Another thing that’s been praying on my mind is that my Father’s also due to go into hospital next week for an operation so I’m going to have to figure out a way of getting up to Yorkshire to see him.  He’s having a pretty rough time at the moment with one thing and another, just wish we lived closer.

Lately I’ve found myself focusing more and more on things I can control in my life rather than things I can’t (probably a good thing).  So, to that end at least I have a plan in place if I’m made redundant.  My plan is to take a year out and focus my energies on the charity work and make sure that we make the Arch to Arc a success the first year round.

Also I want to be able to help The James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer out as much as I can on the IT front to help build the brand.  As a starting point I had a great night out with Paul Fox of Fonda on Monday to talk about all things “geek”, so watch this space over the coming months.

It is a risk to take a year away from work I admit, but I think that it’s a risk worth taking, and to be honest I can’t see it looking that bad on my CV if I’m filling my time with things that are productive.  My real hope is that the time out will lead to other things as I always believe that things have a way of working themselves out as long as you don’t sit on your behind doing nothing.  I now worry more about not taking this opportunity than I do about any financial impact, if I dont take it it will be an opportunity lost.  Let’s see!

Please sponsor us at either VirginGiving or JustGiving

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010, Oxford Support Group Demonstration 27-Aug-08, Patient Day 18thNov2009

Well, I’m amazed ….. I thought I’d struggle to get 5 people to come along to the Arch To Arc Cycle Ride Event next June, but it seems I was wrong.  So far 19 people have said “maybe” on the FaceBook page and 17 have said “Yes”,  plus I have another 3 or 4 people who’ve said off-line that they are coming along.  Fantastic news! 

As I’ve said before I’m going to limit this to 20 people for the fist year and then we can widen it out to bigger numbers going forward.  Why?  Well simply because we want to make sure we do it right first time and make it an event folks want to do time and time again.

So, what’s next?

First off I’ll be sending a message out to all the event attendees over the coming weeks telling them to start the fundraising now by:-

• Giving the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer a £300 deposit by the end of the year so we can start booking hotels and ferry/rail tickets etc.  This deposit will be refundable as long as you raise the £1000 target. This will show us that everyone is truly committed to the project,  there’d be nothing worse than booking rooms and tickets etc only to find that nobody turns up.  Clearly if you’ve already raised £300 for the event then no deposit will be required as the commitment will already be there.
• Next you’ll need to setup a VirginGiving page.  What I’ll encourage people to do is to put their £300 deposit into the VirginGiving page, this will set their targets at £1300 if they want to get the £300 back.  It’s pretty easy to setup a VirginGiving page. 
  • Goto VirginGiving
  • Click “Start FundRaising”
  • Click “Organised Event”
  • Select June 2010 as the “Event Date” and then Click “Find Event”
  • Select “Arch to Arc Cycle Ride” from the list then Click “Next”
  • Put in £1000 in your “How much are you planning to raise” (or £1300 with deposit)
  • Select “No” to “Has your Charity contributed to the cost of the event”
  • Select “Just me” in answer to the “Are you fundraising on your own or with other people?*” question (seems a bit odd given we are a team, but trust me it does odd things if you select “With others”
  • Then Select “Next” and follow the instructions from there, where you can put up a photo and description etc.

We have an overall target of £20,000 to reach, about half of which will be going on costs, the rest will go into the charity.  It’s a big target, but there is time between now and June to hit that if everyone works at it.

In the next week or 2 I’ll be working closely with the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer around the organisation. We’ll be firming up the dates and times, route, hotels, ferry etc.  We’ll also be putting together a questionnaire for all the entrants e.g. Kind of Bike, Medical Conditions, Dietary requirements, travel plans to and from the event, do you want an extra night  stopover in Paris after the ride etc, things like this.  The fine details are yet to be worked out, but my intention is that we have all of this nailed by Jan 1^st  so we can all hit the fundraising and training schedules with renewed vigour at the start of 2010 … working off all that Christmas pud! 

For those of you not able to join us on the ride please give as much as you can to this event and spread the message to all your family, friends,  local newspapers (or national if you’ve got contacts).  There are very few opportunities to raise awareness for Kidney Cancer, we want to make this one count!

Please sponsor us at either VirginGiving or JustGiving 

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010

Once or twice a year I get invited along to parties that The James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer organise.  Last time it was at the House of Lords with Christopher Biggins giving the after diner speech.  I don’t know what I was expecting but he was hilarious, despite the fact that his computer presentation didn’t work, clearly well practised at off the cuff speaking.

Last night was the kick off for Britain’s Biggest Curry Party.  It was held at Café Spice in London with the TV Chef Cyrus Todiwala MBE cooking for us all.  I reckon (without counting) there were about 40 people.  All in all good fun, good food and good company although I have to say it was a strange choice for a starter, when was the last time you had Steak and Kidney pie in an Indian Restaurant? ….. but Kidneys were Cyrus’ theme for the evening and it was a welcome surprise, could have gone for 2 of those, in fact I nearly did but for the fact that Nick Turkentine (Fund CEO) was looking just as I was trying to whip his portion off his plate! (he’s quite protective of his food).

I’m not much good at randomly walking up to celeb types, for some reason you feel like you know them because you see them on the TV, but you don’t, so somehow it makes it awkward to talk… I guess that’ll be the star struck idiot in me.  I find it’s just as much fun (and easier) to watch.  However the ones I did speak to were nice.  

For those of you who remember David “Kid“ Jensen from his Radio One days, well, he was there with his wife… they’d just come from lunching with Prince Philip (as you do) and were a great couple.  I also discovered that there is somebody smaller than me! in the guise of David Van Day, singer in Dollar and I’m a celebrity get me out here contestant (and no I don’t watch it!).  I didn’t get to talk to him but on TV he looks like  such a tall chap (sorry David it must be the Tom Cruise effect, but just remember .. small is beautiful)… clearly I’ve missed my vocation because if TV makes you look tall then that’s where I need to be!

So hopefully an evening where lots of awareness and money was raised whilst everyone got to stuff their faces with curry,  and a great kick off to the curry week … I might even have signed one of the guests up for the Arch to Arc challenge!

More on the Arch to Arc in another blog later, but the great news is that getting 20 people signed up seems to be happening faster than I expected.

As a quick postscript … sorry Sarah, I didn’t mean to tear the banner last night, but dont think anybody noticed, well at least they wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t kept on pointing it out.

Please sponsor me if you can at either VirginGiving or JustGiving 

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Posted under Andy Thomas, Arch To Arc 2010, Britain's Biggest Curry Party, General