WHEN Horndon woman, Andrea Nunnery, discovered that her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2012, she was determined to raise awareness of breast cancer in younger women and fundraise to help improve diagnosis, treatment and hopefully one day find a cure!
Although the prognosis for her sister was good, Andrea has embarked on a series of fund-raising activities culminating in a trek to the Grand Canyon.
YT asked Andrea what she was planning throughout the year.
Andrea said: “It is shocking that 1 in 8 women at some point in their life will be affected by breast cancer.
“Nancy Smith, my good friend who is also trekking with me sadly lost her mum to breast cancer and my mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor after receiving treatment 19 years ago. This is our small way of trying to make a difference.
Our challenge – A 5 day trek through the Grand Canyon for Breast Cancer Campaign! A 3100ft descent and ascent, 46 miles through rough terrain, climbing down rocks using rope ladders, sleeping in a tent in an Indian reservation with no showers and composting toilets (nice).! Whilst a challenge this is nowhere near the challenge that my sister and many others will go through.
Our Charity – Breast Cancer Campaign’s mission is to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure.
Past Events – So far the vast majorities of donations has been from telling people of our challenge and asking them to support, this has been by word of mouth and through social media. On February 6th I hosted a Chocoholics party at my home which raised £200. Waitrose & Crabtree & Evelyn supplied raffle prizes for us.
On Saturday 23rd February, Nancy & I hosted a coffee morning in the Woolmarket, Horndon on the Hill. We approached local companies and asked if they would like a stall at the coffee morning in exchange for a small donation to the charity, the following companies all attended; Design at Mine, Hobletts Farm Nursery, Browns Couture, Lush Cosmetics (Lakeside), Craftily Creative (Stanford) with a selection of Yankee Candles and Chocoholics products, Pampered Chef, Sammy BeautyTherapist and Keelie Blanchard (facepainting).
It was a very well attended social event, with many family, friends and villagers attending. We had excellent donations of raffle prizes from the following companies: Costco (West Thurrock), Millie’s Cookies, Partyman World, Lush Cosmetics, Empire Cinema’s, Nando’s St Clere’s Hall Golf Club and Solelistic Reflexology and in total raised £800. Ben Crompton entertained us with his beautiful live piano performance which added to the social feel of the event.
Upcoming events – We have organized another two events which are a Table Top (Bring & Buy) Sale on Saturday March 23rd from 2.00 – 4.00pm in the Methodist Hall, High Road, Horndon on the Hill and a Barn Dance on Saturday 20th April from 7.30 – 11.30pm in Horndon on the Hill Village Hall. I
Further Information on all of our events, our training and our sponsors can be found on our facebook page ‘Team Turtle Trek 2013’ or for an update on my fundraising total go to my Virgin Money Giving page www.virginmoneygiving.com/andreanunnery
