In 2026, the Wilson Family will be taking on one of the UK’s most iconic and demanding long‑distance walks: the Coast to Coast National Trail, from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay.

This epic journey spans 192 miles (309 km), climbs nearly 20,000 feet (6,077 m), and crosses some of the most rugged and beautiful landscapes in England. We are aiming to complete the entire route in just 8 days, covering roughly a marathon a day.

We’ll be walking it as a family relay. Some of us will take on the full distance, while others will join for sections as work, school, and life allow. Every mile will be walked with purpose.

Why are we doing this?

We are walking for Anne – our wife, mum, daughter, sister, auntie, grandma and friend.

In December 2022, Anne was diagnosed with uveal melanoma, a rare and aggressive form of eye cancer that affects only around 500–600 people in the UK each year. Like so many people faced with a cancer diagnosis, Anne met it with extraordinary strength, determination, and hope.

Initial treatment to her eye was successful, followed by surgery to remove a tumour from her liver. For a time, the treatment worked. However, at the end of 2025, scans showed that further tumours had developed in her liver.

Because uveal melanoma is so rare, there are very limited treatment options available. Anne’s doctors believe that a specialised treatment called chemosaturation could help slow the progression of the cancer and extend her life. This treatment delivers chemotherapy directly to the liver, in a highly targeted way, and offers real hope.

Although chemosaturation has been approved, it is not currently available through the NHS. This means the treatment must be funded privately.

Each round of treatment costs in excess of £40,000, and Anne will need four rounds in total. Her first treatment begins in April 2026, which makes fundraising for the remaining rounds incredibly urgent.

As a family, we have managed to secure enough funding to start the treatment, but we now face the enormous challenge of raising a further £130,000 to ensure Anne can access the remaining rounds.

Should other promising treatment options become available for Anne, this fundraising will also help support those opportunities. However, if the situation changes, these funds will be used to support my sister and our family during this uncertain time.

How you can help

By supporting our Coast to Coast walk, you are helping us give Anne more time, more options, and more hope.

Every donation – no matter how small – makes a real difference. It helps us get one step closer to funding the treatment she urgently needs and allows us to continue fighting alongside her as a family.

If you’re unable to donate, sharing this page with friends, family, and colleagues is just as powerful.

Thank you for taking the time to read Anne’s story, for supporting our challenge, and for helping us turn every mile we walk into hope for someone we love so deeply.