Supporter stories
Fundraising Support
Our supporters come from all walks of life. Below are some examples of how HNCF’s supporters raise funds.
London Landmarks Half Marathon - A message from our Trustee
On 24th March 2019, Team Tower of the Head and Neck Cancer Foundation ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon and raised £3,100! Our Trustee Sir Frederick Hervey-Bathurst leaves a message for the team...
WELL DONE everyone, fantastically fast time from Shane who came 241 out of 11,959 runners, brilliant!
And Michelle thank you so much for your help and organization it is so much appreciated by us all.
And to everyone for taking part, I really hope you enjoyed it and if the adjective ‘enjoy’ is inaccurate then at least I hope you obtained a well deserved sense of satisfaction; I shall be back to explore many of the stunning London landmarks which ordinarily one is too busy to fully appreciate.
But, certainly for me, and no doubt for us all in quieter contemplation as I ran this morning what struck me above all was the ‘conflict’ on the one side of a very happy day, brilliant entertainment throughout the 13 miles of choirs, church bells ringing, pearly queens, bands, cheering crowds and thousands upon thousands of smiling faces wishing every individual runner, all 11,959 their support and the best for them.
And, on the other side, the conflict. Behind the smiling faces almost every runner and every supporter along the route has witnessed or been directly part of an appalling heart wrenching tragedy. The lady running with a backpack to represent her lost child, the man running without legs with a sign “I can’t feel my feet either”, and the countless cancer and other charities lining the route all of which harbour stories of lives lost and deep unhappiness to countless families and individuals.
And that is why you ran: to directly improve the lives of those afflicted by a head and neck cancer. To raise money for HNCF to educate surgeons in methods of less invasive-traumatic surgery enhancing the lives of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands and more, afflicted by this terrible disease. HNCF is no ‘better’ than any other charity, it is no more worthy than any other charity, but it does have one unique advantage which is what Mark, Clare and others are doing predominantly in training others is, right now, changing lives. So the thanks goes to the surgeons from us and the countless others both present and future. Thank you.
White Collar Boxing - Fight Night Style!
Three years ago, our good friend John Maloney organised a charity boxing event with the original aim of raising £25,000. That first event smashed its target and amazingly raised over £100,000 in a single evening. The event was such a success that in its second year it raised a whopping £0.3million! Again in one evening. The event is now set to be an annual fundraiser for HNCF.
Read more about the event at John’s My Donate page.
Mark’s Marathon Swims London
A swimming marathon is 10,000m non-stop! That is four hundred lengths of your local 25m pool! Does that sound hard? Probably not as hard as dealing with the impact of a head or neck cancer diagnosis. Following a friend’s diagnosis, and an episode of BBC2’s ‘Hospital’, Mark was inspired to raise money for HNCF. He’s aiming to raise £1 for every mile swum. Any donation to his endeavour is gratefully received, no matter how big or small.
Support Mark here at his Just Giving page.
Mark after crossing the finishing line.
Media Fight Night 2018
Here is a video from the 2018 Media Fight Night.
Fight night
Here is a video from the 2016 event.
A Huge Thank You To Our Supporter Russell Deans
We would like to say a massive thank you to one of our supporters, Russell Deans.
Russell has placed an advert for the Head & Neck Cancer Foundation on his racing car to support the charity.
He entered several events including the Doune Hillclimb which is a round of the British Hillclimb Championship 2019.
From everyone at HNCF - a massive thank you to Russell.
At the Fintray House Hillclimb, Russell achieved a personal best and was placed in sixth place, he then achieved fourth place the following day. Thank you Russell for your continued support.
Gary Smith Friendship Trophy Day Raises Over £2,000
The annual Gary Smith Friendship Trophy Day raised over £2,000 in aid of the Head and Neck Cancer Foundation.
The event is held at Ramside Golf Club in Durham every year. The golf society is made up of prison officers and staff from HMP Durham and local prisons in the region. The Gary Smith Friendship Trophy Day has been an annual event since 2000. Gary was an officer at HMP Durham who passed away in 2000 from cancer. Dave Redford, who took over the society in 2000, uses the day to raise money for charity. Dave and three other members in the society had throat and neck cancer so decided to raise money for HNCF at the 2019 event.
From everyone at HNCF, we want to say a massive thank you to Dave Redford and everyone who took part in the golf day. Your support will really help us increase knowledge about the treatment of head and neck cancers, and fund the training of Sentinel Node Biopsy experts so that more and more patients can benefit from this life-changing treatment.
Band Mixed Jamb hold a party to raise money
In September 2017, the band “Mixed Jamb” held a party to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. This was to raise money for The Head & Neck Cancer Foundation.
Nigel Perryman, founding band member and organiser of the event, had laryngeal and mouth cancer.
A week after the event, Nigel had to go into hospital to have an operation to remove a synchronous primary.
Sadly, Nigel’s wife Jenny telephoned the CEO of HNCF, Michelle Vickers, to let us know that Nigel died of head and neck cancer in February this year. She mentioned that Nigel was given amazing, empathetic and understanding treatment by Cellin Thomas and the team in Cardiff.
To ensure the continuation of his legacy, a collection was raised at Nigel’s funeral. All proceeds were donated to the Head and Neck Cancer Foundation.
RIP Nigel Perryman
Michael Lloyd, long-term supporter
Michael, a former patient of our co-founder and trustee, Professor Mark McGurk, is a long-term supporter of HNCF. He has raised money for the charity in the past and had planned to fundraise at last year's Accessible Transport For All event. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled but he will be going ahead with it next year.
Thank you, Michael, for your support!