Brave Masher Maddie George (24) has started Cycle Challenge, a 370kms ride through India where she will be raising money for the Lymphoma Association, a charity which supports those affected by the disease - the UK’s sixth most common cancer.

Maddie, whose mother lives in South Street in Caistor, was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in January last year, has undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy at St Thomas’ Hospital in London and now wants to raise money to support the charity.

This is her first report from the Challenge…

I’m sat in a sandy valley having lunch on day 2. Lunch is curry and white carbs. I have eaten curry twice a day since I have been here so that’s 7 in total to date. Still not eating meat though.

Yesterday we covered off 62kms. We didn’t set off until 11am so it was unbelievably hot. The day was split in to 4 sections. By the 2nd section I was flagging. My chain came off so had to wait for the guys to come and fix it (we have a team of 20 marshals that go up and down on bikes to monitor us).

Then I got a bit of heat stroke so had some anti sickness treatment from the doc and cycled at the back for a while. We realised we were heading directly through a huge religious festival so a police escort had to arrange to take us though.

You wouldn’t belive the roads! Camels, horses, cows, bikes, mototbikes, tuk tuks, buses and tractors were all on the road scurrying around - it was quite terrifying and very hot.

I got stung by a hornet, first time I have been stung in my life! Everytime we go through villages all the kids run to the road and shout good morning to us and wave , the braver ones ask for money. We saw a dead boar being eaten by dogs. Got to camp at sunset. Slept in a tent with an en suite ( a western toilet dumped in the corner, not plumbed in and a tray with bucket of water for a shower)

Up and out of the road for 7.30. We went through a really dodgy town where we had to go in groups as the kids are known to cause trouble with us but again we had a police escort so it was okay. Done 57 kms already today, HILLS, lots of HILLs. We have 92 kms in total to do and then tonight we are staying in the palace. YESSSSS

My legs, arms, neck and bum ache…

If you would like to support Maddie in her challenge please visit www.justgiving.com/Madeleine-George or by contacting the Lymphoma Association fund-raising team on 01296 619419.

More Maddie updates coming soon…

Maddie, who works in London, said: “After experiencing first hand the difference a charity like this can make to a young person who is newly diagnosed with cancer, I felt like I wanted to do something to help others.”

Training hard for the challenge, Maddie hopes to raise £3,200 for the charity.

She said: “Until now I haven’t been on a bike in five years so it was a challenge in itself but I am really enjoying the training and luckily have good friends who are doing it with me to motivate me.

“I get tired and have had a few ups and downs but I am excited about taking part in the challenge although rather nervous.”

Supporting the work of four special cancer charities, the second Big Cycle Challenge is raising funds for Children with Leukaemia, Lymphoma Association, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Ovarian Cancer Action.

The challenge is to cycle through Rajasthan and it starts with a visit to the Taj Mahal before setting off on a spectacular journey through rural India.

Maddie and her four friends start the Cycle Challenge on March 6 and although the required money has been raised, Maddie says if anyone would like to donate to the charities please contact the charity.

If you would like to support Maddie in her challenge please visit www.justgiving.com/Madeleine-George or by contacting the Lymphoma Association fund-raising team on 01296 619419.

Today I ventured into the unknown, A foodies dream, a metropolis for Christmas shoppers and a celebrity chef followers heaven. Yes, it could only be the annual Birmingham Good Food Show.

Mash were there with Lavazza and had the best and biggest coffee demonstrating and sampling stand at the show, and it paid off, with the team selling 39 units in the first day!  It was exhausting enough just watching the amount of people crowding around the stand.

24 hours ago I was a GFS virgin, now I am doing the equivalent of a kiss and tell and boring anyone and everyone with what I ate, who I saw and what I bought. Who knew I needed silicone baking trays! Well I do, and my guess is if you were at the stand today, you would have too.

The Good Food Show hit fever point (imagine a Beatlemania type scene) when Jamie Oliver came to his stand for a book signing.  In our herds we thrust credit cards at the till to purchase his latest book (twice the price than in your local books shop I might add) and proceeded to wait in line for 70 minutes to spend a mere 7 seconds while Jamie signed your book. He barely looked up from the page or posed for a picture but still, with £20 less in my pocket and with very tired feet, I left the stand satisfied and triumphant.

I then, in a very organised fashion, did the rounds of the other stands eating cheese, garlic cheese, chilli cheese; Milk chocolate, white chocolate and organic chocolate;  I managed to get a fresh Gordon Ramsey salad made especially for me while I got talked into buying a griddle machine.  I tried four varieties of ginger ale wine?! Four, I didn’t even know there was one! I tried all kinds of sausages: the winner was the Lincolnshire of course.  You get the picture.

I ate and drank until I gave my self stomach ache, my feet were tired and I was growing weary so I popped by the Lavazza stand,  relaxed with a Cremo Coffee, chatted and made new friends, of course I told them I met Jamie, but they trumped me with a kiss from Marco Pierre White.

In the words of Gordon Ramsey: Good Food Show? Done.

Article written by Maddie George.

Maddie and Holly and the famous Sock Monkeys

My name is Maddie George.  I am 23.  I live in North London.  I like to spend my Saturdays exploring, laughing, and eating cake.  I like the colour purple, I like The Beatles.  I like cookery shows,  and harbour an unhealthy obsession with 24 / Jack Bauer.  I clean too much, I recycle and boss my boyfriend around more than he would like.  My spelling is rubbish.  I am normal.

On 22nd January 2009, less than 24 hours after finding a lump in my neck, I was diagnosed with Stage 2a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of Cancer that affects the Lymph nodes (the glands in your neck, groin and armpits).

In a split second, my life was turned upside down, destined never to be the same again.  I am a positive person but the thought of having and battling cancer was a massive shock to the system and more than I thought I could handle.
What does this mean? How will this affect me? Will I see my next birthday? How bad is it? Why do I not look sick? These questions muddled through my head one after the other.  While Cancer is very rare, I couldn’t help but ask ‘Why me?’.

However, straight away, wonderful things started to happen and I couldn’t help but feel that actually, I am a very blessed, lucky girl.  In the early days of my diagnosis some truly great friends and family gave me so much love and support, that the bad thoughts slipped away.

My friend Lucy rushed to my bed side and took on the role as my PA.  My friend Mary turned up at the hospital unannounced to be with me.  My brother sat by my bed, ready to provide whatever I needed.  My Mum and Boyfriend dropped everything and raced down the A1 to get to me.  My fellow Mashers in the office made a card with Jack Bauer on it.  My housemates packed up some of my belongings and hand delivered them to me.  And then there were the flowers, the gorgeous flowers that arrived from so many supportive faces.

The night I came home from hospital we had a mini party with some of my friends and family.  All I wanted to eat was duck, so we got duck.  All I wanted to drink was wine (unsurprisingly!), so we got wine.  I started to think maybe if I was going to start getting my own way all the time, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad (!).  As I looked around the living room, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of happiness to see all the faces of wonderful people that were rallying round me.

From that moment on, I was determined to stay firmly on the bright side of life and fight for the silver lining at the bottom of all of this.

At the same time, my housemate Holly went to a Craft afternoon and made a sock monkey.  When she got home, Holly gave me her monkey and it was love at first sight.  The monkey just made me really, really, really laugh - it was so cute!  It put such a huge smile on my face and made me so happy that I took it everywhere with me,  everywhere.  It was my good luck charm, my mascot, my friend.  From then on, it was me and the monkey against Cancer together.

I found out I would have to have chemotherapy treatment which involves 6 hours in the hospital so toxic drugs can be fed into me and attack the cancer. 6 hours? How boring! Holly suggested that I start making sock monkeys while I was going through treatment to keep me occupied and keep me occupied.  When Doctors told me that I would need 4 months of chemo, we realised that not only would I lose my hair, but that a lot of monkeys could be made!

Everybody needs a sock monkey...

The NHS kindly offer one free wig for all cancer patients but they made me look a bit like a shop mannequin (!) and were not very nice.  I discovered that a beautiful looking wig could cost anywhere from £500 - £3000, a lot more than I could afford.  And then it dawned on us.  Everyone we’d shown had loved the sock monkeys and wanted one of their own.  We could sell the monkeys to help raise money for the wig AND raise money for the Lymphoma Association AND spread the joy of the monkeys!

And so it was…Monkeys for Maddie was born…and I haven’t looked back.

The message behind the monkeys is that behind every dark cloud, there is a silver lining.

I’ll be keeping you updated on my progress through the Mash blog but in the meantime, please do visit us at http://www.monkeysformaddie.com/ to order your own sock monkey. We also NEED MORE SOCKS to monkey up so please post them to me at the address given or if you just want to say hello then please do at: monkeysformaddie@googlemail.com

The more colourful the sock, the more personality your sock monkey has!