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Stuart Priscott's 50th JOGLE Challenge 2021
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I am joining two friends – Matt Theedom and Scott Chappell – on a grueling cycle challenge from John O’Groats to Lands End in July to raise money for two charities very close to my heart: Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Chance to Shine. I will also be celebrating my 50th birthday in July; an unthinkable milestone when I was born in 1971 with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Over the past 50 years I have benefitted from amazing medical research and discoveries, excellent health care from the NHS (massive thanks to the CF Team at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital) and supportive family and friends. I have experienced first-hand how new drugs and treatments can transform people’s lives.


I have also seen the impact of poor health and the daily struggle that accompanies it. Two years ago, my older sister Jo, who also had CF, passed away shortly after her 50th birthday after a career in teaching and ultimately an unsuccessful lung transplant. Jo was a kind, loving and inspirational sister and friend. As a family we were devastated by her death, which felt untimely so soon after the transplant she had waited so long for. It is the way in which she led her life with such passion and vigor that has driven me to take this challenge in my 50th year.


I have two younger brothers, one of whom also lives with CF. For many years it felt like research and treatment regimes were aimed purely at preventing deterioration and supporting compromised daily living. But science has since advanced to the stage where funded research can and does make a life changing and life affirming difference. Both my brother and I have been able to start families of our own thanks to scientific advances, again something we never thought would be possible.

In learning to live with CF I have realised it is not enough to be alive – life is for living and everyone needs a purpose. I was lucky from an early age that I found cricket as an outlet to stay active, meet people and develop friendships, and strive to achieve. My opportunities came through school and teachers who cared and a pathway into club cricket. I now work for Chance to Shine - an education charity that uses the power of cricket and sport to open possibilities and develop life skills. I see up close the positive impact sport can have on young people and the way it can be the spur to unlock potential.


A year ago, as we entered lockdown, I wanted to give myself the best chance of staying well. I started to exercise and bought my first ever bike. A year on, the benefits of that change mean that I can take on a challenge to celebrate my 50th birthday and honour the memory of my sister’s 50 years. It also allows me to give back to causes that have supported us so much in our lifetimes, a challenge that for most of my life was simply unimaginable. It has been suggested I will be the oldest person with CF to complete this challenge but I’d love to be proved wrong - please get in contact if you have done it already….

Joining Scott, Matt and me on the trip will be colleagues, family and friends from cricket, and we aim to raise £50,000 so others can benefit from both improved medicines and life-enhancing sporting opportunities. We know this is an ambitious target so your support is gratefully received. Every donation, however small, will make a massive difference to the people Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Chance to Shine helps.

Matt says…I’ve had the privilege of knowing Stu for what seems like a lifetime. It’s actually only about 17 years! Like Stu, I am very lucky to work in cricket, which is where our friendship began. That’s one of the beauties of cricket, you meet great people and make lifelong friendships and memories! I genuinely speak to him more often than I speak to my wife.

I’ve had unsettling experiences of visiting Stu in hospital when he has been at his worst, in fact I recall I kidnapped him on one memorable occasion to have fish and chips in Topsham! I’ve seen the challenges he’s had to face and they are very real. I didn’t ever think that I would have the chance to undertake such an epic physical challenge with him, but here we are about to cycle 950 miles together…

Scott says…I have known Stuart for the best part of 10 years, and first met him when I interviewed for a Community Coach role with Chance to Shine and the Devon Cricket Board. Remarkably he not only gave me that job but also my next job 4½ years later where I now manage the Chance to Shine schools programme for the Somerset Cricket Board. Having seen the impact Chance to Shine has first-hand, I could not think of a better charity to raise money for, along with Cystic Fibrosis who I know have played a huge part in Stuart’s life as well as thousands of others.