A kind-hearted woman from Holme on Spalding Moor has raised £1,300 and counting for Brain Tumour Research after taking on a sponsored walk in memory of her late husband.
This is the third year that Sallie Smith has taken on the challenge after her husband, Doug, sadly passed away in 2019. He had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016, and Sallie has been dedicated to raising much-appreciated funds for the cause ever since. With daughters, Claire and Natalie, and other friends and family members by her side, Sallie completed the walk in record time.
She said: “This is the third consecutive year that I have done the Walk of Hope, which is a national walk for Brain Tumour Research. “We walked 10.18km around the South Duffield area in a time of two hours 11 minutes - one minute quicker than last year.” Sallie also held a coffee and cake afternoon in aid of the charity, which was a big success. She added: “We had a great turnout - around 39 people attended and we also had a brilliant raffle with 31 great prizes, some which were kindly donated by supermarkets. “A big thank you to Morrisons for the hamper of biscuits and four mugs and coasters, and to Tesco for the tea, coffee, biscuits and two mugs.” Perhaps the most poignant moment of the afternoon was during the ‘name the dog’ contest.
Sallie explained: “We held a ‘name the toy dog’ competition where people put in name suggestions. “I did the draw and pulled out Doug’s name. It brought me to tears and was such a special and emotional moment, especially given why we were all there raising funds.” Following the success of the walk and coffee afternoon, Sallie has managed to top the amount of money she has raised in previous years. Last year she raised just over £1,200, but this year her standing total is £1,300 and she is still taking donations. Speaking of her achievement, Sallie added: “Every year I think it would be nice just to match the money raised the year before, so to say we have topped it, no matter how much by, is just incredible and it is great to be able to donate it to the charity. “I want to say a massive thank you to my friends and family and all those who supported either the walk or the coffee and cake afternoon or both. It means so much to have that support and it is great that we have raised so much for Brain Tumour Research.”
Sallie with some of her friends and family at the coffee and cake afternoon. (29-09-23 SU)
