The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Labours of love
Whether you run, cycle, trek or get involved in the Penguin Parade Art Trail, there are many ways to raise funds for cancer care charity Maggie’s. Gayle Ritchie meets some top Maggie’s fundraisers
Meet the adventurous folk who have pulled out all the stops to raise funds for Maggie’s centres.
t costs almost £1 million a year to run Maggie’s Dundee and Fife, centres which offer free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends.
That’s a staggering £2,400 a day and yet the charity opens its doors free of charge, thanks to fantastic support from big-hearted fundraisers.
You can drop in to Maggie’s whenever you like, whether it’s for a cup of tea and a chat or to participate in the packed programme of activities – everything from gardening, creative writing, walking and bereavement groups to nutrition and yoga workshops.
“We are constantly amazed at the generosity and creativity of our supporters,” says Annie Long, fundraising manager for Maggie’s Dundee. “The centre costs £540,000 per year to run, all raised through the efforts of wonderful friends.
“We have 70 visitors a day, seeking emotional, practical and social support in dealing with cancer.
“Our team of psychologists, cancer support specialists, benefits advisers and fundraisers are here to help.”
Meanwhile, Maggie’s Fife costs £450,000 a year to run. Check out these inspiring stories from Courier Country fundraisers...
SUSAN GOURLAY’S ULTRA CHALLENGE
Fitness fanatic Susan Gourlay wasn’t going to let breast cancer stop her taking on an ultramarathon. During a mammogram in 2015, doctors detected a small lump and when it started to grow rapidly, a mastectomy followed by a breast reconstruction was the only choice.
As a result of her active lifestyle, Susan, 63, was so slim that surgeons struggled to find fat to create a new breast.
“They had to take it from my buttock – a bit like a bum lift,” says Susan, from St Andrews. “It worked brilliantly until fat necrosis – a bit like sepsis – set in and I started collapsing. I could hardly walk and had to have the wound treated daily, as well as having radiotherapy.
“It was oestrogen-driven breast cancer and while I’m now in remission, I have to take tamoxifen for 10 years.”
Susan’s dad died of cancer and a few female relatives have also been affected by the disease.
In March last year, Susan was feeling low but initially rejected the idea of visiting her local Maggie’s centre.
“I thought it was a hospice but how wrong I was. Maggie’s became my sanctuary.
“It was such a tranquil, friendly place where I was made to feel at ease.
“I spent time in the library while therapeutic touch sessions soothed me and made me realise I’d been living on a knife edge.”
A plan to tackle the Tiree Ultramarathon – a 35-mile run round the rugged Hebridean island – formed in Susan’s mind.
In January Susan, a retired purser for British Airways, had lymph nodes removed but was still determined to take on the ultramarathon in September.
“The doctor okayed it and I truly believe exercise was the best thing for me. It was hard work because the weather was atrocious. There were 14 beaches and knee-deep bogs to run through but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
So far Susan reckons she’s raised around £2,100 for Maggie’s and she’s training for the Rutland Marathon and the Dunoon Ultra in 2018.
DON SUTHERLAND’S EPIC CYCLE
Dunfermline-based police sergeant Don Sutherland lost his sister Fiona to pancreatic cancer in 2011. Then, in 2012, his wife Valerie died after a short and painful battle with cervical cancer.
“Add the loss of my mum a short while later and I was bit of a lost soul,” admits Don, 57.
Rather than “burden” others with his grief, dad-of-two Don just “got on with it”.
In April 2013, he was attending Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy for physiotherapy when he noticed a signpost pointing to the Maggie’s centre.
“I knew of Maggie’s as a place geared towards comforting those with cancer, so it never occurred to me to give it a look,” says Don. “I wandered in, not really knowing why. I didn’t have cancer so I was probably wasting their time, wasn’t I?
“They wouldn’t understand my feelings of self-loathing for not doing enough for the people I loved while they were alive; the helplessness watching them suffer, the despair when they passed – the rage – and the loneliness after they had gone. It was hard to admit to these feelings, but there they were in a nutshell.”
When Don ventured inside and was welcomed with open arms, it turned out to be the best thing he could have done to move forward.
“Talking and interacting helped me to better understand why I felt the way I did and gave me peace of mind.
“I could forgive myself a little and learn to be grateful for the time I had with Fiona and Valerie, and appreciate what I still have.
“I’m not one for crying but I opened up and cried.”
Maggie’s became, and still is, a little haven of peace and tranquillity for Don and he felt the need to give something back.
Being a “fit guy”, he decided to take on a physical challenge and signed up for the LEJOG challenge – cycling more than 1,000 miles from Land’s End to
I thought it was a hospice but how wrong I was. Maggie’s became my sanctuary
John o’ Groats in nine days. “We did 117 miles in one day – that was tough,” he says.
Discovering it costs £2,400 to run a Maggie’s centre for a day, Don aimed to raise £3,000 but was stunned when this figure rocketed to £5,600.
“I wanted to raise as much money as I could, as well as awareness of the good Maggie’s do for people like me – husbands, wives and family who go through it all with loved ones suffering this insidious and indiscriminate disease.
“Maggie’s hide the work they do under a very large bushel and many people are unaware of the help and solace they can receive by taking that first step inside their local centre.”
JANICE ALLAN’S UGANDA MISSION
Some folk shave their heads for charity but great-grandmother Janice Allan trekked through the deserts of Jordan and forests of Uganda to raise funds for Maggie’s.
Janice, 60, has been to Uganda twice, and plans to return in 2019.
“So far I’ve raised around £12,000 for Maggie’s in Kirkcaldy,” says the gran-of 11 and great-gran of one.
“I chose trekking in Uganda as I sponsor the schooling of a little girl called Constance.
“I always take aid for the people – clothes, shoes and educational items.”
During a sponsored trek in 2015, Janice slipped in the African country’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and broke her leg badly.
But trooper Janice, who runs a taxi business in Kirkcaldy with her husband, returned to Uganda last month to raise funds for Maggie’s – and for the Cottage Family Centre in Kirkcaldy, which helps vulnerable families and children.
“Once you get the bug it’s difficult to shake and when you see children drinking from muddy puddles, it makes you want to do everything you can to help.”
There’s also the fact she has friends who have used Maggie’s and her dad had cancer.
“I was nearing 60 and wanted to achieve something worthwhile,” she adds.
KEVIN BIRD’S ROOSTER RALLY
Kevin’s dad was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in 2012.
Both of his parents – who live in Cupar – found Maggie’s Dundee a great resource, providing practical, emotional and social support.
“It’s been a true haven, especially for mum during dad’s treatment,” says Kevin, 37.
Like many who experience Maggie’s, Kevin, who lives in Toronto, wanted to give something back and took on the Tour de Rooster 2017 – a week of gruelling cycling through Italy’s mountains to raise funds for the charity.
On day four, Kevin, who works for a global financial institution, encountered the steepest, most unforgiving stretch of road ever.
“Climbing through a forest at an impossible gradient caused me to really have to look within to keep pedalling,” he recalls.
“That sort of effort pales next to the fight my dad’s been facing – and everyone who bravely battles cancer – but in thinking of him, in thinking of those at Maggie’s, I found an incredible motivation to keep going, to fight and not give up.”
The trip was a success with Kevin raising more than $4,200 (almost £2,500) for Maggie’s Dundee.
CLAIRE GALLOWAY’S CLOSE SHAVE
A year ago one of Claire’s best friends, Sylvia Donaldson, was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Sylvia began treatment and started losing her hair,” says Claire, 40, a road policing office and mum-of-two from Blairgowrie.
“I decided I’d shave mine to support her.”
The stunt, at Perth Police Station, raised an impressive £3,022.40 for Maggie’s.
Thankfully Sylvia’s treatment was a success and she was given the all-clear in September.
“Although my natural colour has been revealed, my hair has grown back in!” smiles Claire. “I rock the grey now!”