LAUNCESTON’S Gareth Lancaster hopes to organise another charity event for the middle of next year after Sarcoma UK recently informed him that he and his 12 compatriots had raised over £20,000 for the charity after cycling from Launceston to London back in May.

Gareth was diagnosed with Chondrosarcoma last year after experiencing pain in his hip.

In July 2017 he travelled to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham to undergo a bilateral internal hemipelvectomy and a partial resection of the bladder to get rid of a tumour.

Unfortunately for the father of three, he found out that the cancer had returned earlier this year, although he showed admirable bravery to complete the cycle, which has raised £20,718.60, an amount he thought was never possible.

He recently received a letter and card from Sarcoma UK, thanking him and the team for taking on the cycling challenge.

They called the feat a ‘breathtaking contribution that will make such a difference’.

Gareth was told in the letter: “For example, £20,000 could keep our support line open for over five months, meaning our specialist nurses can give much needed advice and lend a listening ear to anyone who needs it.

“This amount could also help sarcoma researchers move one step closer in finding effective treatment for the disease by funding their ground-breaking projects.”

Gareth said: “In the end I wasn’t surprised as I’d been keeping tabs on it online but I’m very proud of how much a small town has raised. For two charity walks — our cycle and Val’s Walk — to raise over £40,000 is quite astounding.

“We thought £4,000 would be tough to get, but sometimes things strike a chord with people.”

He recently had to go under the knife again at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where he spent three weeks.

Gareth said: “I had my bladder and prostate removed and more of my pelvic bone. It was a long operation which lasted just over eight hours.

“It was tough being in there but the staff and doctors were all very good. The operation went as well as could be expected and they were happy with the margins obtained. They managed to cut out everything out without touching it, so hopefully nothing will come back.”

Since then, Gareth has been at home recuperating.

He said: “It’s a long, slow and frustrating recovery. In another six weeks or so I should be back driving and doing light exercise but at the moment I seem to be spending a lot of time in the chair.”

Looking ahead, Gareth is already thinking about what they could do next.

He said: “There are ideas but it all depends on how the recovery goes. But the plan is to do some sort of charity challenge in the middle of next year, although it depends how fit I can get as to what the challenge would be!”