On 23rd December 2022, we lost a dear friend, husband, brother and son in Ewan Bowlby. Ewan was 27 and achieved a great deal. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour at 17, he devoted his energy over the next decade to helping others and making the world a better a place. He did this all with a characteristic generosity, wit, and kindness.

Some of us were fortunate enough to have known Ewan for his entire life, others met Ewan at school, or at university in Cambridge and St Andrews, where he used his own experience as someone living with cancer to offer comfort and advice to those in a similar position. As a PhD student, Ewan researched the ways in which popular artworks (including novels, films, and television series) could provide innovative emotional, psychological, and spiritual care for cancer patients. His findings have been adopted by several organisations providing cancer care and he was awarded his doctorate in the days before he died. His thesis is publicly available online for free: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/26686.

Ewan’s thesis has posthumously been adapted into the recently published ‘Borrowed Stories’ in which Ewan hoped that the central theme of storytelling would provide inspiration and encouragement to others in a more approachable form. Copies of Borrowed Stories are available from Amazon, Waterstones, Toppings and other retailers.

Crucial to all this was his role as an ambassador of the charity: Maggie’s (https://www.maggies.org/). Maggie’s is an organisation that aims to offer a new kind of cancer care targeted at improving and supporting physical and emotional wellbeing. Established by Maggie Keswick Jencks, it was her mission to ensure that the right support was provided to cancer patients so that the joy of living would not be lost in the fear of dying. Ewan devoted much of his time to fundraising for Maggie’s, with his most recent challenge being the Great North Run in September. He ran the 21km in under two hours, despite having only recently finished radiotherapy. Since his passing there have been multiple fundraisers, from mass participation walking challenges, half marathons and a challenge to conquer Hadrians Wall in under 80 hours.

Five and a half years on, we are now looking to honour Ewan’s legacy and his passion for cricket by hosting a testimonial match at the iconic Bamburgh Castle. On 31 August, Ewan’s XI, consisting of his family and close friends, will take on Bamburgh Castle CC at the iconic castle-side ground. We’d love for as many of you as possible to join us on the day, creating a special atmosphere on the scenic Northumberland Coast.

We will be raising money for and awareness of Maggie’s, the charity that was so close to Ewan’s heart and that has offered invaluable support to countless cancer patients, their friends and their families. Any amount that you can donate will go to help Maggies be there for those who depend on their services and to make living with cancer that little bit less daunting.