Team eMatilda is taking part in Sir Chris Hoy's "Tour de 4" fundraising cycle event in Glasgow on Sunday 07 September - to raise funds for the truly inspirational Maggie's centre in Dundee.

The aim of Tour de 4 is to to highlight that however devastating a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis is - it does not define the limits of what is possible. 

To that end, along with my wife Di, Team eMatilda is tandeming the blue route - a near 40 mile circular route from the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in the east end of Glasgow. 

40 miles should be relatively straightforward after we took part in the 115-mile in one day Grand Depart Classic at the end of June - cycling the full first stage of the 2025 Tour de France from Lille while raising significant funds for Prostate Cancer UK. 

That was obviously a very tough challenge - but not nearly as tough as the personal challenge I am facing daily having been diagnosed with life-limiting Stage 4 Prostate Cancer. But Maggie's has been a massive help to me along my cancer journey - offering invaluable peer group support, and easy access to sources of financial help. 

My unfathomable news came back at the end of October - just six days after 6-time Olympic gold medal cyclist Chris Hoy went public with his horrific terminal diagnosis. My consultant actually used the phrase that my condition was "almost identical to Chris Hoy" - including the timescales. 

That news was clearly devastating for us both - coming out of the blue with zero symptoms. Life has been a real rollercoaster as we try to find a way thru this new "living with cancer." The good news is that the ground-breaking drugs are working for now, and holding off the growth of the cancer. 

It has not been an easy path to navigate - but Maggie's has been nothing short of wonderful in offering a reassuring helping hand every step of the way. 

Within weeks of my diagnosis - when it seems your life seems to have ended - I was encouraged by the oncology staff to drop in to Maggie's within the grounds of Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. 

No appointment is required and a warm, understanding, caring reaction is assured. 

I have since been attending the wonderful weekly Men's Group every Monday morning. The testimony and the fellowship from the other men is amazing - it's like being part of a "Band of Brothers". It offers a no holds barred open discussion on all the similar issues that we all have with cancer - despite the group having many different forms and types of cancer. 

It has also been extremely useful to have chats there with two other men who also have prostate cancer - and it is reassuring that they are a year further on in their cancer journeys. 

The whole team at Maggie's Dundee are nothing short of truly inspirational. Apart from the Men's Group, the team has also helped me personally by providing easy access to Adult Disability Payments and a Blue Badge for our car. 

The Tour de 4 organisers ask participants to select one of five cancer charities - so it was a no-brainer for me to select Maggie's Dundee as it truly lives up to its mantra of being "everyone's home of cancer care." 
<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/88696713_1752775819534259_r.jpeg" alt="88696713_1752775819534259_r.jpeg" />
Back to cycling - albeit at a somewhat different level! - I have found Chris Hoy's book - "All that Matters" a great help due to the similarities between us. In fact it almost could have been written about my prostate cancer journey so far. It has also been humbling and at the same time inspirational in the positivity the book engenders. And the fact that he is a year ahead of me in his cancer journey offers me hope. 

He has firmly shone a spotlight on what a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis looks like. We are trying to follow in his footsteps to show that (while incredibly hard) it is possible to live well and lead a happy life alongside this devastating diagnosis. 

In conclusion I will paraphrase Chris Hoy: "Team eMatilda is tandem cycling the Grand Depart Classic 2025 to play a small role in helping raise awareness of living with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer. 

"By taking part in the The Tour de 4 we will be helping challenge perceptions of what is possible while living with Stage 4 cancer and inspire hope - both for ourselves and others. 

"The vital funds we will hopefully raise will be a huge help to Maggie's in Dundee to assist in funding their operation.

"I know there is no cure for me but, with science moving so fast. I hope I can play a role in protecting our children and the next generation.

"Finally - if you are over 50 - go and get tested guys! It's a no brainer and could save your life. In the words of our new theme song - from our favourite male singer Paul Carrack - 'Don't wait too long'." 

Thank you for taking the time to read our story, and thank you for donating.

And F##K CANCER!! 

Colin and Di x

Steve Holt

Billy Maggie's

Jeff McKenna

Stuart Teuwsen-Cooke-Jackson

Ian Condie

FIONA BIBBY

Derek Hulme

Jon Pocock

Anonymous

Kirsty Muir

Nick Willis

Eric Ogilvie

Cameron Black

Winston Matthews

Robert Gray

Abbie Burton

David Shearer

Frances Graham

Team eMatilda's Tour De 4 fundraiser for Maggie's Dundee

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Enter your donation forTeam eMatilda's Tour De 4 fundraiser for Maggie's Dundee