Between the 12-14 June 2026 Emily, Izzy and Ava (students in year 12) aim to fundraise at least £1,500 for Brain Tumour Research. Their challenge is to complete an Olympic distance Triathlon - a 1.8km swim in the school pool, followed by a 40km ride on the gym bikes and then a 10km run around Sedbergh each day, for three days. We wish to dedicate our endeavours to Max Vardy and Debs Holland, who we lost recently to  cancer. Their bravery, dignity and grace are our motivation.

Brain Tumour Research aim to find a cure for all types of brain cancers by increasing UK investment into research. Shockingly, “one in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour”. “What’s more, brain tumours continue to kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer ”. Yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. To fund a full day of research into brain cancer, costs £2,740. The girls aim to raise at least £1,500 (over half of the daily research cost).

Max and Debbie

In 2024, aged just 24, Ava’s cousin, Max Vardy, after experiencing some abnormalities in vision and a debilitating headache, attended A&E and was given a CT scan.  It revealed a 4-5cm lesion on the left side of his brain. It took six weeks to confirm the diagnosis: a grade 4 glioblastoma - a highly aggressive and terminal brain tumour.  Despite the prognosis, Max endured with extraordinary maturity and grace and, over the rest of his life, succeeded in raising over £53,000 for Brain Tumour Research and continued to push the limits and boundaries of his condition despite undergoing surgery; chemotherapy, hyperthermia and radiotherapy. 

Debs, Izzy’s Aunt, was diagnosed with Triple Negative Stage 3 Invasive Breast Cancer in February 2024. She fought the disease with dignity, humour, and strength. Following various rounds of treatment (immunotherapy; chemotherapy, surgery & radiotherapy) plus inevitable emotional ups and downs - months later, in early September 2024, she was declared to have 'No Evidence of Disease (NED)' and a 'Complete Pathological Response' (CPR). No signs of the cancer, that were initially found in the breast, Lymph nodes, and neck could be detected.  Heartbreakingly, the reprieve was short lived and in October 2025, Debs, only 47, was informed the cancer had spread to her brain. Over £30,000 has been raised on her behalf for the Wakefield Hospice, where she was cared for in the last stages of her life.

For both Max and Debs, treatment options were brutal and ultimately could not save their lives. The work that Brain Tumour Research engages in is critical to improving the prospects of those diagnosed.