On Yer Bike spinathon 2018

ON YER BIKE

FUNDRAISING BY FRIENDS UNITED BY TRAGEDY

Two women, whose friendship was forged by bereavement, enjoyed a fun day of cycling action to fund research into the disease that killed their husbands.

We are striving to fund a network of seven dedicated research centres in the UK

Cathy Pratt from Horsforth and Maria Browne from Eccleshill were joined by 14 jelly-legged fundraisers for our national On Yer Bike event, some of whom cycled for seven hours continuously, in the spinathon at Workhouse Fitness gym in Farsley, Leeds. Mum of three, Cathy, lost her husband, Andrew, to a grade four glioblastoma multiforme, a highly aggressive type of brain tumour, in March 2005. He was just 41 years old. Maria’s husband, Michael, fought an oligoastrocytoma for 20 years but sadly passed away in February 2007. The pair’s deep friendship has grown over the years after they met at a support group for people bereaved by brain tumours. Their spinathon took place on Saturday 3rd February (also Cathy’s birthday) and served as a fitting tribute to both men. Cathy was full of praise for their supporters and the host gym: “The gym couldn’t

do enough for us and a friend even surprised me with a birthday cake, which was the icing on a great day.”

On Yer Bike saw fundraisers from all over the country dust off their gym kits and thunder through the miles to raise around £20,000 for research into brain tumours. Carol Robertson, our Head of Community Fundraising (North) said:

“We would like thank everyone who saddled-up for On Yer Bike and for raising essential funds and awareness. “We challenged people to step up and ride for research, and Cathy and Maria did just that. They had a great response and fantastic support from family, friends and the team at Workhouse Fitness.”

Saturday 23rd February 2019

To organise your own On Yer Bike event or participate in an event in FOR BRAIN TUMOUR RESEARCH your area, please go to www.braintumourresearch.org/on-yer-bike Save the date for 2019 or, if you can’t wait until then, organise your own spinathon challenge sooner. We can help you plan and fundraise all the way. Contact us on fundraising@braintumourresearch.org or call 01908 867200.