Thank you for visiting my fundraising page you can find more about the walk etc by visiting www.return2romance.co.uk

Hi I'm Nigel Hearnden and in January 2008 I began a series of walks and other events to raise monies for charities supported by my late wife, Anne.

The aim is to raise monies for 4 charities that Anne supported and the project is called "Return to ROMANCE", which stands for Return to ROMe for ANne and CharitiEs.

 The beneficiaries of my fundraising will be Action Aid, two local charities; Harbour Cancer Support Centre based in Gosport and the Friends of Oncology and Radiotherapy Cancer Charity (FORT) based at St Mary’s Hospital Portsmouth who support sufferers and their families across Southern and Eastern Hampshire and West Sussex. The fourth is organised by the Catholic Church in Gosport, which is twinned with the parish of Mbetta in Cameroon and raises funds for education, health as well as pastoral projects in the area.

Each charity will receive an equal share of all monies raised.

The first walk which took 110 days started at the end of January 2008 and covered a distance of 1305 miles from my home in Gosport to Rome. There were a couple of unforgettable surprises waiting for me in Rome. The British Ambassador to the Holy See invited me tea at his residence and I was granted an audience with His Holiness the Pope. Neither of these were expected nor was the media interest around the world - stories of the walk appeared in press from the US to Vietnam and the Daily Mirror ran a feature on the story in July 2008. BBC Radio South, ITV Meridian and local press have also widely covered the project.

The walk was followed by other events including a charity golf day and auction, during which I found myself becoming an auction lot and working in a salon for a day and raising over £300 by doing head massages.
  
Early June 2009 will see me visiting Australia to do some fundraising in Melbourne and on to Sydney to do the Bridge climb - a real challenge when you do not have a head for heights. In  September 2009, I will be hosting another charity golf day at the Lee on Solent Golf Club ( please visit www.return2romance.co.uk for details) as well as a series of wine tasting and quiz evenings.

In 2010, I will be undertaking a 400 mile walk from my home in Gosport to Seaham Harbour in the North East of England where my wife grew up. We are also planning a variety evening.

I am also writing a book about Anne's four year battle with various cancers and the walk. A large event to formally end the fundraising project ib being planned for March 2010 and details of all the 2009 events will be available on the web site.

About Anne

Anne was born in Easington in 1957, grew up in Seaham Harbour and was educated in Seaham and Sunderland before joining the Royal Navy as a nurse in 1975.

Anne was first diagnosed with cancer in August 2001 and over the next four years, suffered from three different types: Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bowel cancer and liver cancer (twice). During that period, Anne underwent chemotherapy via peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines) for over 20 months and had three major operations until she was in remission from the Hodgkin’s, clear of bowel cancer, had recovered from her latest liver surgery and had been given the all clear by her surgeon, much to mine and her family’s relief.

Having fully recovered, she commenced a precautionary course of chemotherapy in early November 2005 to eradicate any rogue cells that may have remained. Unfortunately, on 23 November Anne developed what appeared to be flu, hospital tests did not reveal anything suspicious and she appeared to be recovering. Her sudden and unexpected death on the 26 November 2005 aged 48 turned out to be due to a rapidly developed infection in her heart.

Anne was a qualified midwife and nurse and from day one she never complained or wanted to hide away and was determined to win her battles. Whenever able, she carried on working as a midwife in Southampton and Portsmouth and later as a nurse in the radiology department at the Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport. Her experience as a nurse and cancer sufferer enabled her to support others who were starting treatment by giving advice when having intravenous lines fitted in the radiology department and also on the oncology ward when starting their chemotherapy, often while she was having her own treatment.

Anne and I were due to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in Rome in March 2006 and she would have celebrated her 50th birthday in June 2007. This sponsored walk is to honour that plan and to celebrate a life taken suddenly but also importantly to acknowledge many of the people / charities that Anne supported or which supported us through Anne’s time of need.

If you would like to join me in walking some of the route and are happy to obtain sponsorship, require information about the golf event, want to provide non-financial support or just want general information about the walk etc, please e mail me at Ret2rom@aol.com

Once all monies have been collected, FORT will ensure that each of the four charities included in this fundraising project receive 25% of the monies.

Please donate generously.

Many thanks for your support.

Please keep the sponsorship rolling in.

Nigel

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to donate: FORT Cancer Charity will receive your money electronically and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in Gift Aid will be added to your donation at no cost to you.