Every little helps...

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

I thought it was a hospice but how wrong I was. Maggie’s became my sanctuary

It 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