Everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer. For Michael and Bridget Locke their daughter's illness in the 1980s was enough to kickstart a lifetime of giving back.
It was on the trip back to Newport from London following their daughter's final chemotherapy session that the couple decided they would join the fight to find a cure.
Since then the pair have raised £965,000 for Cancer Research. Now they want to raise the final funds to get to £1m.
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Mr Locke, 90, said: "The pandemic has definitely affected our fundraising. A few years ago I mapped it out on a graph and worked out that we should hit the £1m mark by the time I turn 90. Well, I made it to 90 but we still haven't hit the £1m.
"We had to cancel our big golf event – which would raise about £15,000 per year – and we are hoping that the one we have planned for July will be able to go ahead.
"Although over the last two years we have had the pandemic to worry us all cancer is going to be there after the pandemic has gone."
After raising an enormous £965,000 in the last 50 years Mr and Mrs Locke are determined to reach the next milestone.
Mr Locke added: "I suppose that you could say over £950,000 is worth celebrating. I initially said that I would slow down after we hit the half a million mark but we just carried on."
When Mr Locke retired 30 years ago the pair took on fundraising as a full-time job. They say it has given them a purpose.
Mr Locke said: "It makes you feel you've done something positive and it's given me a purpose, which I've enjoyed because I think I'm doing something useful with my life. It's like having a job without getting paid for it"
The couple have raised funds in a variety of ways over the years including supermarket collections, breakfast mornings, golf events, raffles, and by selling homemade marmalade.
More than 2,000 jars of Michael's homemade marmalade have been sold since he started making it 30 years ago. As each batch is just 24 jars this is no small achievement.
Mr Locke said: "One day I was watching Bridget make marmalade and I noticed that she wasn't following the recipe exactly. I made a remark about that. She told me to do it so I have been ever since."
Sally Kay, Michael and Bridget's daughter, says the famous marmalade recipe will be released once their latest fundraiser hits £10,000.
The fundraiser, which was only set up a week before Christmas, has already raised £9,100 of the £44,000 target.
Mr Locke was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2007 for his services to Cancer Research but he says he has "never really felt it was his".
He said: "I always said the M was for me, Mike; B was for Bridget, my wife, who is chairman and founder of the group; and E is for everybody else who helped.
"I didn't know the MBE was coming so it was a nice surprise. It was the Queen who presented it to me."
Michael and Bridget's three daughters and six grandchildren are all incredibly proud of their achievements. They have all been using social media to help reach the final milestone.
Daughter Sally Kay said: "The reach of the fundraiser has been amazing. Just last week we had donations from the Netherlands.
"It's incredible to see.. We get messages from strangers."
For the couple charity work has been part of their life forever.
Mrs Locke, 88, said: "I think it's in my blood to raise money. Even as a small child during the war I used to do a collection and was even given a reward for raising more than the other girls."
Mr Locke added: "It will just be the icing on the cake to reach £1m."
To help Mr and Mrs Locke achieve their life's work you can donate to the fundraiser here.
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