Alex raschke mid way

Our team of fundraisers take on a series of adventures raising over £5,500 for Oracle

Adventure season seems to be in full swing, and our congratulations go out to our trio of adventurers who have all taken on massive challenges this month for Oracle Cancer Trust. We’re thrilled that together they’ve raised over £5,600 for research to make sure more people survive head and neck cancer.

Katie Locke (pictured above) took part in the Outlaw Half Ironman, Holkam on 4th July in memory of her mother. She has taken part in shorter triathlons before, but this distance was a major step up for her.

“In January of 2020 I lost my mum to head and neck cancer (HNC). Despite my Mum's cancer having been identified at Stage 1 the treatments and tests were simply not available to save her. Shortly after losing Mum I committed to raising money towards research for the development of new and kinder treatments for HNC in the hope that others may be more lucky than she was.”

"Staying motivated to train was not easy but knowing I was raising money for Oracle Cancer Trust and having the support of so many family and friends kept me going. Thankfully all the training clicked into place on the day. The biggest surprise was that I actually enjoyed myself."

Massive congratulations to Katie for completing the challenge, raising over £3,000 including gift aid and for doing so in a fantastic time of 5hrs 58mins too.

You can read more about her story or sponsor her here.

Alex Rachke (pictured above) a nurse at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford took part in race to the Stones, an ultramarathon that had been delayed from 2020 like many events.

She said “Running the Ridgeway was without a doubt the most challenging experience of my life! But doing it to support Oracle made it all the more worthwhile. Nursing patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer gives you an insight into just how awful the disease is, and during the run I thought of patients I’ve met & their experiences to power me through. This was my first ultramarathon, but I’m already looking into more challenges and would always be proud to support Oracle.”

We can’t believe Alex is raring to go again already! Congratulations Alex on an incredible run and for raising over £1200 with gift aid too. Read more about her long winding build up to Race to the Stones here.

Tim Hammett is a longstanding supporter and has taken part in so many activities for Oracle. Tim was at the Goodwood Golf Day in May and told us then his intention was to complete his 21st triathlon at Henley. We thought we’d misheard him!

“I decided that as it was 2021, I would step up for my 21st triathlon.  As I'm now in my 63rd year, I reckon it will be my last one!  I've supported Oracle Cancer Trust for about 20 years - I first got to know them and the good work they do when my work colleague Ben died of a brain tumour at the age of 42.  Since then, I've lost several good friends and relatives to various cancers and, most recently, one of my brothers, David, to oesophageal cancer - so this one is for him.

Thanks to my friends, family and colleagues support, we raised over £1000; their kind messages and generous donations spurred me on.”

We’re so touched you would take on this challenge in memory of your brother Tim. Helping keep the research going feels like such a fitting tribute and we’ll your hard earned donations to good work.

Take your place at the start line

If the intrepid trio have inspired you, we can help you! We have some places in the Virtual London Marathon on 3rd October – you just about have time to train for it and we also have a team taking part in the Royal parks Half Marathon. If you’d like to join them to test yourself and raise funds to help more patients survive head and neck cancer, please email us.

Do it your way

You may have read about Darren Murray and his family, who have launched their Move4Mikey campaign in tribute to his brother in law Mikey Gillespie. Last year, Darren Murray completed an “Everest” riding challenge raising an incredible £8,000 for our research when so much of our fundraising had to pause due to restrictions. This year, he and his sister Suzy are marking the second anniversary since Mikey died by inspiring friends, family and Oracle supporters to get involved with their campaign for Oracle, Move4Mikey. It’s a brilliant way to get involved in your own way.

Darren said “It’s getting exciting with only couple of weeks until all the challenges kick off; we hope to raise £10,000 with quite an assortment of activities. There are walks, golf marathons, bake sales taking place and Suzy’s son Josh (17years old) and his pals are incredibly going to do a hike from Mikey’s grave into Glasgow to Ibrox stadium and back. 48km!”

For his part, on Saturday 14th August, Darren with a small group of friends will ride over 200km from Cumbernauld’s Eastfield cemetery, where Mikey is laid to rest, and after over 10’000ft of climbing reach one of Mikey’s favourite places, Loch Morlich near Aviemore. It will be an emotional journey and a brilliant tribute to a man who was clearly very dearly loved.

If you’d like to sponsor them or indeed, create your own challenge for Oracle Cancer Trust visit Move4Mikey here. Thanks so much to Darren, Suzy and everyone involved for such a great idea and all your hard work in putting it together.