Hi guys,

Please excuse the scattergun approach, but could I kindly ask for your assistance? A good friend and Army colleague of mine, Chris Riddle, has recently had quite possibly the worst news:

His daughter, Vanessa, was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma (a very aggressive form of childhood cancer) at the age of 8. Despite which, she bravely fought this disease and underwent a long, painful process of treatment and was final given the "all clear" in Aug 2010.

Just before Christmas after a routine checkup, it emerged that Vanessa had relapsed. The whole story is explained in greater detail than I could explain by her father, Chris, here:

http://www.justgiving.com/vanessa-appeal

I understand that this may be seen as a bit cheeky, but time is against her, and there are no real relapse protocols as such in the UK.

Your donation, however much you could afford to spare, is much appreciated!

Many thanks for taking the time to read,

Dan

Also, please feel free to send the justgiving link to friends via facebook/twitter etc.

Cheers again!

Hi again - just a quick update!

The Vanessa Riddle appeal is doing extremely well, just breaking the £30,000 mark. A great effort after just over 2 days. News of Vanessa's plight is spreading rapidly with over 14,300 tweets, and over 2000 likes on Facebook.

In addition, The Daily Record have been to interview the Riddle family and are to publish an article to raise awareness of the appeal - as is STV News at 1800hrs on Saturday night.

I also have further appeal documents/sponsor forms etc. if anyone would like them. I don't know how to upload documents, so please pm me your email address if you'd like this info. Oh, and also, people can donate by texting: VANY99 £1-£10 to 70070

On behalf of Chris, Connie and Vanessa I would just quickly like to say a big thank you if you have donated so far, or indeed helped spread news of the appeal to families and friends. Good work!

Cheers,

Dan

Done …. hope all goes well for her ...

Done

Cheers guys, big thanks!

All is going well with the appeal, now heading north of £154k - 31% of their target! Awareness of Vanessa's plight has also been spread via STV, The Daily Record, and the Ayrshire Post. In the past week, Celtic and Rangers FC have also helped by hosting Vanessa, and I know the Celtic squad, feeling particularly inspired by Vanessa, decided to have a whip-round.

I also tried passing something through Manchester United via a friend, and am hoping they can also do a little to help.

I know Vanessa, Chris and Connie are genuinely touched by the kindness of those who have been able to donate, so again - muchos cheers!!!