Hi, I'm Mel, a slightly crazy 60 year old from rural Somerset and I am on a mission. In October 2022, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I went through some pretty gruelling surgery and treatment throughout 2023 at which point I set myself a goal of rebuilding my fitness and taking on a challenge to help others and prove that age really is just a number. So on January 2nd 2027, I'll be leaving Tenerife to row 5000km across the Atlantic ocean to Antigua. I'll be joining a team of 12, of which only two are women and we're aiming to complete our mission in 42 days or less. That's 42 days of rowing 3 hours on, 3 hours off, 24 hours per day, every day with just each other for support and a vast ocean for company. No toilets, no showers, no support boats and cramped quarters at each end of the boat to sleep in when not rowing. Am I an experienced rower? No. Have I ocean rowed before? No - but life has taught me that anyone can achieve anything with determination and hard work and this journey is about so much more for me than the row itself. Cancer was a challenge (I am now well) but I have friends and family who are not quite so fortunate and for this reason, I've chosen Huntington's Disease and MIND as the two charities I'll be using Mel's Atlantic Mission to raise money for. My sister-in-law and many other members of her family have Huntington's. If you've never heard of it, please take the time to visit https://www.hda.org.uk/ and find out more. It's a devastating disease that flies very much under the radar and they desperately need higher awareness and support. MIND is one most of you will have heard of and I've lost count of the number of people I know who've suffered mental illness, myself included.

So here's where you come in. It costs a lot of money to row the Atlantic - the event fees, the clothing and kit, the travel expenses and training. I'm asking you to donate what you can to help me reach my funding goal, 50% of which will be donated to Huntington's and MIND. Please help me achieve my mission by giving what you can. I will be creating social media pages and a weblink to create blogs, videos and training throughout the next few months to keep everyone posted on my progress leading up to Jan 27.

Go to https://www.rannochadventure.com/roxy/the-boat to find out more about out boat

Thank you.