We are Lisa, Emily, and Calvin —friends of Monique Buckingham (@thelifeofmique on Instagram). We will be taking part in the 5K Santa Fun Run to raise money for the Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals Charity. We’ve chosen to fundraise for the Collingwood Centre at Colchester Hospital, which provided essential support to Monique during her treatment.

This event will take place on Monique's birthday, December 8th. Monique absolutely loved celebrating Christmas and spoiling her loved ones, so we believe participating in this is the perfect way to remember her on her birthday, inspired by her generosity and kindness 🩷

For those unfamiliar with Monique's story, she was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer not long after her 21st birthday, in January 2017. This came after emergency surgery for a perforated bowel, which meant that Monique had to adapt to a stoma as well learning that she has a palliative cancer diagnosis. She spent the next five years living with cancer, enduring pain and difficulty, but also making the most of every moment she could and helping others at every stage.

Monique used her experience to shine a light on topics which people might find embarrassing to talk about and she helped countless people recognise bowel cancer. Her life was too short, but she achieved huge things and made a massive impact.

We hope that by challenging ourselves we can raise some money to support people living with cancer and follow Monique's lead in continuing to raise awareness of bowel cancer.

Any donation would be hugely appreciated and will spur us on as we train for the run!

More info on bowel cancer: https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-cancer/symptoms/