Pal of East Lothian cancer campaigner to cycle more than 100 miles in fundraising bid

Johnnie Meechan was diagnosed with terminal neuroendocrine cancer in 2016 and set up Johnnie’s Journey to back good causes and spread awareness of the little-known illness.

Since then, the 46-year-old who lives in Tranent has raised more than £70,000 ever since.

Keen cyclist William Turner, who grew up with Johnnie in Lochend, has been a firm supporter of his pal throughout, having already completed three challenging bike rides in France to raise money.

William Turner will cycle the John Muir Way | Handout

Today, he will tackle the John Muir Way from Helensburgh to Dunbar with donations going to food banks, cancer patients and charities around Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Johnnie told the Evening News: “The last few years, he’s done sections of the Tour de France, some of the toughest ones.

“He goes out for a few days and picks so many of them in a day, so the last three years he’s been in France and this year he wanted to do something in Scotland.

“I think the John Muir Way was one of the bucket list ones he wanted to do from a cycling point of view.”

Tragically, William’s mother died during the preparations for the cycle. However, he committed to going through with it - a fact Johnnie reckons is testament to his character.

Johnnie added: “I know that it hurt. I lost my mum about a year and a half ago to cancer as well, so I know how much that sucks.

“I think it’s testament to the kind of person William actually is. The first thing I said the morning she passed away was ‘we need to delay this’ but he told me no.

Tranent man Johnnie Meechan has raised more than £70,000 for good causes

“He’s just determined to crack on with it. I think it’s given him a wee bit of a welcome distraction.”

A £2,000 fundraising target for William’s cycle has already been broken but donations are still welcome from anyone who wants to back Johnnie’s Journey.

Reflecting on eight years of fundraising, Johnnie said he had always ‘wanted to leave something behind’ and that it his activities had given him purpose to battle on despite his health deteriorating.

After being told in 2016 he was likely to live for another five years, he acknowledges he is in ‘injury time’ but treats every day as a ‘blessing’.

He continued: “(The fundraising) is part of me now. It really is, it’s part of who I am. It probably partly was a case of I didn’t like that label of being ill.

“Like a guy who’s just waiting for (death) to happen, I don’t want to be that person. I take it on board. It is what it is.

“I don’t dwell on it anymore, like I did for a while. It just doesn’t do you any favours. I’d rather just be positive about it.

“I know it’s going to be happen at some point but whilst I’m still here, I’ll just make the most of it and if I can do some good during that time, even better.”

You can donate here.