A group of friends embarked on a 60 mile cycle ride this morning (Saturday, 7 October) to raise funds for a Chadwell St Mary family man battling cancer.

In August Thurrock Nub News reported on the story of Rhys Graham, 27, who has been diagnosed the very rare ampullary cancer.

Rhys is a father with three children. Ava (8), Tommy (3) and Jude (4 months). He was due to marry their mum and his sweetheart and Leila (26) this month but plans were disrupted when he was stricken with the disease.

At the beginning of June, Rhys became ill with jaundice and spent a few days in hospital undergoing tests.

A scan picked something up near the small intestine and a camera down his throat showed a mass. They took biopsies and this resulted in a devastating cancer diagnosis.

Rhys and his family

In August he underwent surgery to remove the head of his pancreas, most of the duodenum (a part of the small intestine), a portion of the bile duct and the gallbladder.

The operation was successful but Rhys has since suffered a setback meaning he now needs to undergo a lengthy process of chemotherapy.

Leila has mostly been on maternity leave due to having Jude four months ago, and now Leila will need to be Rhys' full-time carer as the recovery is quite long and severe.

The community of Chadwell St Mary, particularly regulars at the Chadwell Arms pub, have rallied round and have launched a fundraising campaign to help the young family.

Several events are scheduled to take place at the venue and today a group of eight friends, who have been together since they all attended the Gateway academy, will cycle from the Arms to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground.

Rhys Graham

The event has been organised by Rhys's best friend and fellow Chelsea supporter Sonny Smith, from Premier Avenue in Stifford Clays. He and seven friends – some of whom have returned to Chadwell from far and wide have already raised about £800 in sponsorship for the and will hope to add to it today. To support the riders you can donate here.

You can make a donationto the overarching fund via this link.

Sonny, who has a family of his own and is Ava's godfather, who has done very little cycle-riding since organising the ride, which is 63 miles in total. Hopefully they will return to the pub for a further fundraising event in the late afternoon and celebration with friends and family of Rhys, who is expected to be there to see his pals set off and return.

Sonny has expressed thanks to all who have supported the fundraising – which in total currently stands at more than £3,600 - particularly Chris and Tracey, landlords of the Chadwell Arms. He also expressed his gratitude to the Thurrock Bike shop in Tilbury which has serviced all the riders' cycles and Emma Hook from Personalised by Lolli who has made all the personalised T-shirts for the riders.

He said: "We've already had a number of donations, including quite a big one from Johnny Clark from Top Gear Promotions at Stifford Clays, also Jody Whittaker from Thames rugby club in South Ockendon. Jody's just lost his father and so the last thing he needed was a bike ride but like so many people he has rallied round to help Rhys.

"I'd just like to thank everybody especially the seven other riders. Together with Rhys we have such a close bond. We've stayed together since school and coming together for Rhys has just reinbforced that bond."