David Howell
David Runs Marathons
Fundraising for Helen Rollason Cancer Charity
Story
UPDATE: As I have now stormed one year’s fundraising target HRCC have kindly given me a place to ALSO run the London in 2022- so I’ve amended my target accordingly! Thanks for your support!
As a resident of Hatfield Peverel I feel a close affiliation with this charity. I have run past the charity HQ several times each week for the past three years and having not known much about them prior to moving here I have become progressively more aware since moving here.
My first and foremost reason for running the VLM in aid of the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity is to help them with its fund-raising to support cancer patients and their families. My Mum, living in Colchester at the time, was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer in the spring of 2013. She lost her battle the following year, but I was overwhelmed by the level of support offered to her and the family by local support groups and charities. Without this support we would have faced this alone- the most overwhelming thing during this time was knowing that there were people out there to support her and us, to chat, to pop-in on, to hang out with, to cry with, etc. Whilst going through her illness Mum was able to make friends, take part in activities with other cancer patients, receive complimentary medicines and therapies and generally receive help that was not available to her on the NHS.
I started running in 2015- as I wanted to do something ‘Forrest Gump style!’ to make my mum proud. My first race, in March 2016, was in aid of St Helena Hospice (Colchester), who supported her and us through her final days- since then I have continued to race for various cancer related charities,including Target Ovarian Cancer, Cancer Research and Teenage Cancer Trust. I am acutely aware of the lack of government funding and want to “do my bit”. To run for a local charity, based in my own village, while raising awareness as I plod the local streets- and ultimately the VLM route, will make me feel proud in the knowledge that I am continuing to help people, as people helped us. Helen Rollason’s vision that “Good quality of life while coping with cancer is the most important gift a sick person can receive. It should be available to everyone.” was and still remains fundamental, this is incredibly close to my heart. 5 years on I miss my Mum deeply, it still hurts and cancer is still doing its worst to millions of people and their families. If I can do just something to help make peoples’ pain just a little bit easier then I will carry on doing so! And in the mean time, let's all do what we can to get cancer to, quite frankly, do one!!!!
Oh- and I did say say 3 years ago (back in the days when I had knees that worked properly, had no idea what "mildly undulating" mean't and have never comes across terms such as "jeffing" or "snot-rockets", and didn't know compression shorts from gait analysis!) that I would give up running once I had achieved the Holy Grail for runners- to run the London Marathon. So, for all of you that detest seeing my ugly mug on facebook/instagram week after week- looking smug with a medal and free banana, please sponsor me... then you might never need to see a running post again. Or not! :-)
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
As a resident of Hatfield Peverel I feel a close affiliation with this charity. I have run past the charity HQ several times each week for the past three years and having not known much about them prior to moving here I have become progressively more aware since moving here.
My first and foremost reason for running the VLM in aid of the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity is to help them with its fund-raising to support cancer patients and their families. My Mum, living in Colchester at the time, was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer in the spring of 2013. She lost her battle the following year, but I was overwhelmed by the level of support offered to her and the family by local support groups and charities. Without this support we would have faced this alone- the most overwhelming thing during this time was knowing that there were people out there to support her and us, to chat, to pop-in on, to hang out with, to cry with, etc. Whilst going through her illness Mum was able to make friends, take part in activities with other cancer patients, receive complimentary medicines and therapies and generally receive help that was not available to her on the NHS.
I started running in 2015- as I wanted to do something ‘Forrest Gump style!’ to make my mum proud. My first race, in March 2016, was in aid of St Helena Hospice (Colchester), who supported her and us through her final days- since then I have continued to race for various cancer related charities,including Target Ovarian Cancer, Cancer Research and Teenage Cancer Trust. I am acutely aware of the lack of government funding and want to “do my bit”. To run for a local charity, based in my own village, while raising awareness as I plod the local streets- and ultimately the VLM route, will make me feel proud in the knowledge that I am continuing to help people, as people helped us. Helen Rollason’s vision that “Good quality of life while coping with cancer is the most important gift a sick person can receive. It should be available to everyone.” was and still remains fundamental, this is incredibly close to my heart. 5 years on I miss my Mum deeply, it still hurts and cancer is still doing its worst to millions of people and their families. If I can do just something to help make peoples’ pain just a little bit easier then I will carry on doing so! And in the mean time, let's all do what we can to get cancer to, quite frankly, do one!!!!
Oh- and I did say say 3 years ago (back in the days when I had knees that worked properly, had no idea what "mildly undulating" mean't and have never comes across terms such as "jeffing" or "snot-rockets", and didn't know compression shorts from gait analysis!) that I would give up running once I had achieved the Holy Grail for runners- to run the London Marathon. So, for all of you that detest seeing my ugly mug on facebook/instagram week after week- looking smug with a medal and free banana, please sponsor me... then you might never need to see a running post again. Or not! :-)
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.