A man. A Mini. A mountain.

Here’s how you can help save lives, and celebrate a life that got away.

Fran McFarlane was a beloved husband, father and friend, a passionate teacher and musician, a proud Celt and a lunatic Mini enthusiast. When he died terrifyingly quickly of cancer in 2024, his family and friends resolved to do something both to celebrate the man he had been and to help future families caught in the same difficult circumstances.

So we’re carrying the shell of a Mini up the Black Mountain (Twyn Llech).

In May 2025, a group of Francis' closest friends and family will carry parts of an original Mini car up a 14.9 mile track and construct the car's shell at the top of the Black Mountain (Twyn Llech), deconstructing and carrying the parts back down from the summit, in order to raise money for Melanoma Focus.

Melanoma Focus is a national charity dedicated to providing help and support to melanoma patients and professionals as well as raising awareness of melanoma, the 5th most common cancer in the UK.

Francis loved people and, in his name, we aim to raise as much money as possible to help the team at Melanoma Focus continue their work: to provide support and information for patients, carers and healthcare professionals while commissioning and funding innovative research to prevent and treat melanoma.

Every donation allows Melanoma Focus to help other families and individuals dealing with the impact of this truly devastating disease.

Please donate and share this page to support our project and fund the life-changing work of Melanoma Focus to find better treatments, increase public awareness of melanoma and save lives across the UK and beyond.

Francis’ story:

Francis had a mole removed from his back in May 2022. The mole biopsy revealed stage 2 melanoma. A wide excision was taken around the mole to remove all cancerous cells and he had an operation to remove the lymph nodes in his armpit. The doctors at Birmingham QE hospital were confident that all trace of the cancer had been removed.

Fast forward almost two years…

Francis had followed all the doctors’ advice about skincare meticulously: keeping out of the sun; wearing a hat; high factor sun protection if he was going to be outside. He attended all of his 3 monthly skin check-ups and we obsessively monitored his skin for any mole changes. He loved life - he wasn’t taking any chances.

Then he started to have problems with his eyesight. He had had some issues with fluid build up in the past so we initially thought that had returned.

Several months of eye clinic appointments eventually revealed, in April 2024, that this was metastatic melanoma and that he had developed tumours on the backs of his eyes. A CT scan then revealed that there had been extensive further spread throughout his body.

We had been watching his skin, but the spread was happening unseen.

At the beginning of May 2024, Francis received one immunotherapy treatment and one radiotherapy treatment. Five days later he was admitted to hospital with stroke-like symptoms. This was actually the cancer spread into his brain, which caused him to have increasingly frequent and severe seizures. He fought courageously, determined to stay with us as long as he could.

Francis died on 16th May 2024.

He was 51 years old.

Francis leaves a gaping hole in the lives of everyone who knew him. He is the adored and much missed husband of Sally and father of Finn and Maisie.

He was a primary school teacher and teacher of music, inspiring and encouraging thousands of young people in his 20 years as an educator.

He was brilliant, talented and hilarious. He brought the fun and joy with him wherever he went.

In May 2025, we will carry the shell of a Mini up the Black Mountain and construct it at the summit, raising money for Melanoma Focus in Francis' memory.

Francis was a kind and charitable person who cared deeply about others, and we hope to honour his memory and his values by raising as much money as we can for such an important cause.

Please support us by donating or sharing this page to help make a difference to the lives others suffering the devastating effects of melanoma.

Thank you.