Ealing comedian and Inbetweeners star Martin Trenaman teaming up with Bill Bailey in battle to beat cancer sooner

The comic, who lost his mum Madryn, to cancer, is walking 100 miles along The Ridgeway to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer.

Bill, 53, will be joined by a gaggle of fellow comedians for the trek which will take six days to complete.

Among those hoping to put in an appearance alongside Bill will be Jo Brand, Lee Mack, Kevin Eldon and Martin Trenaman. Martin is a cancer survivor himself. He was diagnosed with malignant melanoma when he was just 18, an experience he calls ‘terrifying’.

Bill alongside his wife Kristin

Bill has already started raising cash for Stand Up to Cancer, which funds pioneering research to get new treatments and tests to patients, faster.

And to make sure he is up to speed with the science he is supporting, Bill will also be joined later in the week by surgeon Tim Underwood, Professor of gastrointestinal surgery at the University of Southampton who was recently awarded a £1.4m grant from Cancer Research UK.

However, Bill won’t be doing the recommended west-to-east route, he will be going in the opposite direction.

“Most people walk it west to east because the wind is at your back,” he said. “But I say ‘nah’! I’m a rebel – going Maverick. I’m going rogue for Stand Up To Cancer and going the other way.

“Plus if I’m walking into the wind, my hair does that thing like a dog hanging out of the car window – I look better, much cooler!”

The group will walk around 15 miles a day, traversing the Chiltern Hills and the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Bill describes The Ridgeway as ‘a real hidden gem’.

“I love the route. It’s just stunning – a beautiful bit of old England which is surprisingly remote.”

The walk was born out of Bill’s desire to do something different for his 50th birthday. Instead of a party, he organised a walk and invited friends to join him. And, almost as an afterthought, decided to do it for Cancer Research UK and raised £12,000.

This time, he has drafted in some comedy mates and is taking on the challenge for Stand Up To Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, which supports game-changing research to tackle the disease.

“It occurred to me that if I started a bit earlier and got a bit more organised, we could make a huge impact,” he said. “We can get the message out there and raise a load of money that will help save lives.

“I immediately thought of Stand Up To Cancer because it has a really fantastic focus on the clinical trials, pushing forward the results of research and breakthroughs - getting them from the lab to patients as fast as possible.”

He’s ready for the physical demands the six-day trek will bring.

“There will definitely be blisters and a few niggly joints,” he said. “All the walking gear is a given, but beyond anything else, you need tea – and a sense of purpose. Plus a good feed in the evening, that’s very important – a proper pub meal, something good and hearty. And then you sleep like you’ve never slept before.

“The real challenge is getting up every day and walking another 15 miles. Your feet are aching, your legs are sore. After two or three days of that, you really know about it – it’s a hard slog. But it’s for Stand Up To Cancer – so what’s a bit of an ache and another day of miles in the grand scheme of things? “

During the walk, some of his thoughts are bound to drift to his mum, named Maisie but affectionately known as Madryn, which is old Welsh for ‘my dear’. She was a nurse and his dad a GP.  She died of bowel cancer in 2005, aged 74.

Bill said: “Mum was a great character – a huge personality and a real life force. She sang and played piano. When cancer came calling it was devastating for the whole family. I miss her all the time.”

To help keep spirits up during the walk, Bill is predicting community singing to marching songs and a mixture of deep discussion and idle chit chat to while away the hours.

“Walking is good for talking and catching up with people in a way you can’t do at a party because you have plenty of time to talk. There may be the most profound questions on religion and philosophy. Or just idle nonsense. Walking is very good creatively too – it shakes up your thoughts.”

To round off each day’s walking, Bill intends to plunge into an ice bath.

“If you can sit in an icey-cold bath for 10 minutes, it gets rid of all the lactic acid that builds up in your muscles and brings any swelling down quicker.

“Every atom may be screaming at you when you do it – I dare anyone to get in and not swear - but it works!”

Speaking of his cancer experience, Martin, from Ealing, said he found a mole on his chest in 1984 which turned out to be malignant melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.

“To be told at 18 or 19 you have a disease that can kill you is terrifying,” he said. “I ended up having a chunk taken out of my chest and then check-ups for the next 10 years. But I was lucky.

“I lost my dad to cancer to liver cancer and an uncle too, so the disease has had a huge effect on my family. These days, I make sure the kids are plastered in sun cream and they have sun suits too.”

Stand Up to Cancer was launched in the UK in 2012 and, so far, more than £38 million has been raised to fund over 40 trials and research projects, including the development of the ‘chemo package’ to deliver treatment at the best time for the patient; testing arsenic as a weapon to make cancer implode and using viruses to seek and destroy cancer cells.

Lynn Daly, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman, said: “We’re very grateful to Bill and his mates for their support. And we’re urging everyone to follow in their footsteps - not literally, unless they really want to trek a hundred miles!

“But we’re asking them to stand up to cancer in their own way – that could be by getting creative in the kitchen, getting sponsored to stand out in orange at work or school or - for those who want to make a real statement - doing a sponsored wax or head shave to raise as much money as possible.

“We’re on the brink of a revolution in cancer research - thanks to new treatments, screening and earlier diagnosis, more people are surviving the disease than ever before. But we can’t afford to stand still. It’s time to rebel against cancer, raise money and save lives. Every pound raised for Stand Up to Cancer will help to support this progress and bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.”

Bill’s Bailey’s walk for Stand Up To Cancer is from Monday 24th July – Saturday 29th July. To support Bill’s walk, text BILL5 to donate £5* to 70404, BILL10 to donate £10* to 70404, or donate online here.