Riding into the night: In memory of Matt Pollard

Here at Mayfair we meet some incredible people, some breeze in and then out of our lives, only staying a short while. Others come once and are here to stay, riding and making memories with us for decades. Then there are some who are taken away from us, too early. Matt Pollard, the son of a long standing customer of ours and friend, is one of those people. The most brave, kind and inspirational person I have met to date.

A bit of background: In March 2022 Matt was diagnosed with Stage 4 terminal brain cancer, Glioblastoma, and was given a maximum of 6 months to live. He was 21 years old. In June 2024 Matt lost his tenacious fight with cancer and passed away, surrounded by his family. He had outlived his prognosis by over 18 months... At the time of his diagnosis Matt's mum, Lisa, was also going trough a cancer diagnosis and they both underwent treatment together. Thankfully, Lisa is in remission.

From the start, Matts pragmatic and optimistic approach to his diagnosis was truly an inspiration. His moto was 'You are owed nothing and you can't feel sorry for yourself.'. Across the two years of his treatment and fight he spent an inordinate amount of time and effort raising money and awareness for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity (where he was being treated), Christmas for Children With Cancer and The Fountain in Guildford (who offer free massages and therapy to anyone affected by cancer). To date, his efforts have raised over £22,000 across those three charities.

On Friday 6th September, our final BBQ Ride of the 2024 season will be heading out at 6.30pm. Andy Pollard (Matts Dad) and 10 other clients will be riding into the night, in memory for Matt. Mayfair will be donating a percentage of the proceeds of the ride to Matt's preferred charity - The Fountain in Guildford. If you are able to donate towards this fantastic charity then please follow the link to add to the donations we will send to this amazing cause.

In his last two years Matt wanted to spread hope and positivity, and he did so - right to the end. He meant a huge amount to us as a family and so many others and we feel honoured to have known him. We want to spread a little bit of positivity in his memory :-)