My Story
Climbing Pen y Fan is a personal challenge for me and my friend, cousin and work colleague Laura is joining me. Our wonderful food and drink correspondent Chris Rogers has also agreed to join, (acting as our guide and dragging us to the top if necessary!) making this a proper 'News from Wales' Team Challenge. We will be doing this on 11 July. My husband and our colleague Faisal will be cheering us remotely. Why the Challenge? I have arthritis in many of my joints, including my ankle, big toes and both knees, have a slipped disc and previously attempted to cross the Severn bridge in preparation to climb Pen y Fan for charity last year - but I failed miserably, my back giving way before I had even left the car park. Of course, failure is not an option and I was determined to try harder. In that year since I didn't even manage to cross the road to get to the Bridge path, I have got fit, lost 7 and a half stone and I succeeded in crossing the Severn Bridge several weeks ago. Now - it's on to Pen y Fan and this time it's to help other people, and my amazing colleagues are joining me. We cannot think of a better cause to do it for than raising funds to help so many people climbing their own personal mountains with cancer - and even more importantly, funding research taking place here in Wales where we both live! We want to help people like the amazing Sophie. I attended a Gala Dinner in support of Business Beats Cancer Cymru some time back - where we had the pleasure of meeting Sophie, who works for Cancer Research and whose powerful story brought the room to tears and admiration in equal measure. She is positive, a powerhouse of strength, energy and determination. Sadly, Sophie is also battling stage 4 cancer and is exactly why we need to eradicate this disease for good. I lost my Mum age 11 to Cancer. I am now 58 and Sophie's children now potentially face a future without their amazing Mum and then their story will be mine. Sadly, she is, we are told, close to the end of her battle. It is heart-breaking that 47 years after losing my Mum, we are still losing Mums to Cancer - All 3 of us have children and we cannot imagine facing the agony of saying goodbye to them. All our lives have been touched by cancer in some way. Thanks to research taking place in Wales, we have hope. That hope sadly may come too late to save Sophie, but with research making great strides now, we can truly envision a future where all Mums beat this disease, where treating cancer becomes as easy as treating a cold. Mums battling cancer face a mountain every day. Laura, Chris and I only face Pen y Fan. We will be doing our climb on 11 July and we will be sharing the climb on our social media. You can reach us at lisa@newsfromwales.com, and I will post our FB campaign page here soon. Here's a bit more about where any funds raised will be going: ----- In every corner of the UK people benefit from the work of CRUK, whether it’s through prevention, early diagnosis or cancer treatment. Business Beats Cancer Cymru is excited to be building its board of well-connected and influential business leaders from across Wales. As Cancer Research UK (CRUK) ambassadors, the board raises the profile of CRUK within Wales which is home to a wide range of industries and businesses. BBC Cymru are committed to raising vital funds for life-saving research and helping to increase awareness of the positive impact of Cancer Research UK’s work in Wales. Any funds raised go towards cancer research taking place here, in Wales. The board held their first Business Beats Cancer Dinner in 2023, and it is now a creative, impactful and inspirational annual event, raising much needed funds and bringing together businesses who can help continue making more tomorrows. Email: bethan@brandrocker.co.uk Header Image credit: Deposit Photos