BBC1’s The One Show is rolling out their “One Big Thank You” series and paid a surprise visit to the founder of the charity Cyclists fighting Cancer (CFC), Mike Grisenthwaite at Surrey Quays, writes Myfanwy Fleming-Jones…
For 20 years, CFC has been refurbishing donated bicycles and using the proceeds to provide more than 10,000 families affected by cancer with new lightweight bikes, tandems and specially adapted trikes since the charity’s launch in 2005.
Mike set up the charity after his Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma diagnosis at 37 where he was told he had seven to ten years to live. It wasn’t until his brother beat the one in six odds for a life-saving bone marrow transplant in 2005, which cleared him of a risk of relapse, that CFC was born.
The charity stems from this effort to be healthy in face of and despite illness, and Mike’s belief that a healthy lifestyle significantly and positively impacted his cancer recovery.
The surprise BBC1 visit came after Mike was lured to the CFC shop in Surry Quays shopping centre under the guise of filming for internal company use – only to find comedian and TV host Alexander Armstrong appear in the shop with an – unknown to Mike – flat tyre.
It was not until after Alexander congratulated Mike on his 20 years of heroic work through CFC that he became aware of the true purpose for the cameras – they were there to tell him thank you.
The charity worker was given a red cycling jersey donned with BBC1’s ‘One Big Thank You’ logo as well as an emotional video tribute from the families CFC has helped, along with a cameo clip from six-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy.
“I’m lost for words,” said Mike. “That’s very rare. But thanks everyone for making it happen.”
Mike’s One Big Thank You was aired on The One Show, which you can watch here:
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002rkcm/the-one-show-19022026
Every week One Big Thank You gives recognition to someone who’s gone the extra mile to help others in their community. If you want to nominate someone you know, you can email them at [email protected].
