Carol and I were ‘childhood sweethearts’ and have been an ‘item’ ever since. We are ‘Soul Mates’ and ‘Best Friends’. We celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary in 2012 by renewing our Wedding Vows on a cruise with our two adult children.

It came as a complete shock when at the age of 52; Carol was diagnosed with Breast Cancer after her first ‘routine’ mammogram in June2014. There is no known history of any cancer on her side of the family. She keeps fit, watches her weight and does everything right. A clear family history is no guarantee against this illness.

We have lived in a small friendly cul-de-sac since 1997, during which time at least four of the households have been struck by this disease, resulting in three people losing the battle, one of whom was very young. Both husband and wife in two of the households have been affected.

I found being unable to directly influence Carol’s situation unbearably frustrating and had to focus that energy doing something ‘for the cause.’ It appears that many fundraisers who do something as big as this for the first time in their life have similar motivations. We both love ‘Live Music’ and I thought the best way to do something positive was to organise a Live Music Event in aid of The Ladybird Unit and Cancer Research UK. Within a week of making the decision, I had booked our chosen Band hired The Allendale Centre in Wimborne, designed the posters and began promoting the event.

I have faced every challenge in life ‘head on!’ Doing ‘nothing’ when faced with adversity has never been an option for me. Unfortunately, this has been an occasion where I could do nothing directly myself other than entrust Carol’s Care to her Consultant Miss Abigail Evans and her fantastic Team at Poole Hospital’s Ladybird (Breast Care) Unit.

At the time of writing, Carol is in remission.