A former sailor took on the challenge of cycling from his home-town to Cherbourg in France and back to raise money for a cancer charity.

The organisation ‘FromMeToYou’ encourages people to write letters to patients across the UK who are living with the disease.

After being at sea for 30 years, Frank McNulty, from Hythe, says he appreciates how important letters can be.

“I’ve spent most of my life at sea so I know what it’s like to get letters, or not to get them,” he said.

“I think most of the people who are coming to cancer in their sixties are used to that format and it is a way of connecting.

“I know how nice it was for me to receive letters and how nice it was to have a friend send you a little something.”

The 54-year-old says it’s important for people with cancer who are going through a tough time to receive this kind of support, whereas sailors can adapt to any situation.

“Cancer is a universal thing, it doesn’t discriminate and it can take very young lives as well as old lives,” he said.

“People recoil when they get the news and don’t want to be a burden to their friends.”

He added that he wants the charity to be better recognised and he believes founder Alison Hitchcock has done a great thing coming up with the idea.

“Alison knows people in the situation so she decided to do something about it,” he said.

FromMeToYou was launched in 2017 after Mrs Hitchcock sent letters to her friend Brian Greenley who had been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

“I just didn’t know what to say or what to do so I made this really bizarre, random offer to write letters to him throughout his treatment,” she said.

“It was the first of hundreds of letters.

“I discovered a love of writing and we became really good friends.”

After telling their story to the BBC, the pair were inspired to start the charity.

“You don’t need to be intrusive, you can just send a letter to keep that connection,” she said.

“We started a donate a letter programme where people from all over the UK write letters which get donated to cancer patients.

“This year we will probably deliver about 10,000 letters.”

The writers of the letters do not know who they are writing to and there is no obligation for the cancer patient to reply.

It’s just about taking their mind off their illness. and keeping a connection.

“The beauty of our charity is that we often don’t know people’s back stories,” Mrs Hitchcock said.

“Frank started writing letters for us and then started donating to us.

“Then he told me he would be cycling to Cherbourg to raise money for us.

“Often people who support our charity have been touched in some way by cancer and therefore understand the loneliness that it can bring.”

Mr McNulty left for the ride at 6.30am on August 10 and returned on August 13. He raised a total of £260 for his efforts.