There are so many people that support us on a day to day basis, the biggest shout outs going to our parents and my A Team but I had no idea how helpful a charity could be in times of hardship.

I first came into contact with Bowel Cancer UK in those first terrifying days of diagnosis and I had no idea who to turn to. The treatment pathway for stage 4 cancer is a minefield and so much is based on what the patient decides to do, often in a state of terror and armed with very little information. I phoned them for help and it was the CEO who phoned me back. Deborah Alsina has an MBE for charitable services, won CEO of the year in the third sector and a year later, still finds time to message me every week to see how I am. She has become a dear friend and I have been more than happy to become a spokesperson for the charity for various campaigns.

This week, I attended at meeting to discuss Bowel Cancer UK’s funding applications. I am part of a lay panel who offer a patient’s perspective on which scientific research the charity will fund. It was such an interesting day and I met wonderful people, many with stories of hope after being in remission for years and others with sadder stories of their young husbands dying and leaving them with small children.

I learnt some very scary facts, the most frightening being bowel cancer in young people has increased by 45% since 2004 and currently there is no solid idea of what the causes are. Bowel cancer in young people is often diagnosed later because of being thought of as an old person’s disease – as Greg was told for five years ‘you would have to be very unlucky for this to be bowel cancer’. There is a 97% chance of curing the disease at stage 1 so on top of finding out why younger people are developing bowel cancer, we need to make sure symptoms are taken seriously and checked earlier. Bowel Cancer UK’s mission is that by 2050, no one will die of bowel cancer as it is a treatable disease but is currently the second biggest cancer killer in the UK.

I am proud to work with them and lucky that it is run by an angel.

Stacey Heale has put her career as a fashion lecturer on hold to focus on her two lively little girls and fiancé, Delays frontman Greg Gilbert, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2016. She launched the viral campaign Give4Greg to raise funds for lifesaving treatment: gofundme. com/give4greg. You can read more at her blog beneaththeweather.com