Charity | Posted on April 7th, 2025 | return to news
Ex-SAS soldier gears up for epic challenge for Dorset charity
Bob Perry, who has an incurable type of blood cancer, is to conquer three ascents of France’s iconic Mont Ventoux in August.
A former SAS soldier living with a rare cancer is to take on an epic cycling challenge to raise funds for local hospital services.
On one day in August, Bob Perry will conquer three ascents of France’s iconic Mont Ventoux – covering 137km – to raise £10,000 for University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity.
Half of the funds raised will create a safe, comforting space at the Jigsaw Building in the Royal Bournemouth Hospital for cancer patients and their families receiving difficult news, while the other half will support University Hospitals Dorset’s cardiac services.
Bob understands the importance of such a space after living with Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM), an incurable type of blood cancer. Fewer than 400 people are diagnosed with WM in the UK each year.
For years before his diagnosis, he struggled with fatigue, spasms, night sweats and skin issues, enduring a relentless search for answers from doctors. In October 2015, while on holiday in Cardiff to see the Rugby World Cup with his wife, he received the life-changing news that he needed further tests, ultimately leading to his diagnosis.
At the time, Bob was told he had a “good 10 years” left. A decade on, he feels he still has a “lot of life ahead” of him.
He’s founded a community with other people living with WM, created a support group for veterans in the Dorset area, and devoted his time to giving back to charities that mean the world to him – including University Hospitals Dorset.
For him, the goal isn’t just to raise funds. It’s to create a tranquil space for cancer patients who may be receiving life-altering news. A compassionate place where countless individuals and families can have potentially difficult conversations with dignity away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital.
It’s a deeply personal goal for Bob as his family might one day need the solace this space will provide.
Bob said: “Let’s put it this way, if I stay living in Bournemouth, which I intend to, then my family may be in that room in the Jigsaw one day when I’ve gone through my last treatments and may be coming to the end. My wife, my sons and my daughters are all going to be sat in that room, and then a consultant will go in and have a chat with them.
“It needs to be a space that fits that kind of conversation, that kind of hanging around and all that time for that family. It might be my family. It might be someone on the other end who has just been newly diagnosed, and they’re so weighed down by that.
“It needs to feel less like a hospital and more like a space where you can be vulnerable”.
Inspired by Bob’s spirit, cycle shop Trek Poole has pledged their support for his challenge. Mark Wratten, a sales associate at Trek Poole, will cycle over 1,400 metres up one route up Mont Ventoux with Bob. It’s a challenge rooted in his own journey of resilience after undergoing surgery for heart disease.
Mark said: “It’s something from the heart for me, literally. My mum passed away from heart disease, and I live with a heart condition that changed everything in my life. I couldn’t walk, and I lived in doom in gloom.
“Now, thanks to University Hospitals Dorset’s cardiology team, I’m embracing what I’ve got, and I want to tackle life head on. And I would be so proud to do something for the hospitals because they did something massive for me that changed my life.”
Be part of Bob and Mark’s inspiring cycling challenge by supporting their JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/robert-perry-5.
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