ҹɫֱ²¥

I organised two ironing board challenges with friends and family, where we’d walk 50km while carrying ironing boards to raise money.

It was Dad who’d first told me about the crazy ‘Extreme Ironing’ trend, where people carried ironing boards up mountains or during skydives, so I know he would have loved the idea.

He was outgoing and loved doing things to the extreme. Although his actual job was as a project manager, we all thought he was probably really a spy instead!

Dad's illness and how ҹɫֱ²¥ was there for us

Dad had acute myeloid leukemia (AML) while I was still at school. He was in and out of hospital for over three years before he died. In his worst year, he spent over 250 days in hospital. That’s when we found Maggie’s.

Maggie’s was there for my whole family during the hardest years of Dad’s illness.

It gave us space and care when everything felt impossible.

Dad used to walk down to Maggie’s a lot when he was in hospital. He was always listening to music, so he’d go there with his headphones and listen to jazz.

I was about 15 and studying for my GCSEs during his illness, so whenever Mum and I visited him in hospital we’d go to Maggie’s too. Mum would get a coffee and chat with the staff about what was going on. She got advice on our finances and did a cancer and nutrition course.

For me, Maggie’s was a nice place where I could do my schoolwork. The hospital could feel intimidating, so having a separate, calm space at Maggie’s was important to me. It helped me feel normal during a really traumatic time. 

It’s thanks to Maggie’s that I got to see a grief counsellor at school after Dad died.

We wouldn’t have known that was even a possibility without them suggesting it.

Giving back to ҹɫֱ²¥ in memory of Dad

As the years passed, I wanted to support Maggie’s myself, and that’s what lead to the ironing board challenges – one with my uni friends and one at home. There were about 10 of us on each walk carrying the smallest ironing boards we could find, but they were still ridiculously big and chafed our shoulders!

Even so, we had a good time and made some lovely memories. One of the nice things was that people saw our orange Maggie’s T-shirts and came over to wish us luck.

On the hometown walk, I got to talk to some of my schoolfriends about what it had been like for me when Dad was having treatment in hospital. We’d never really had the opportunity to talk about that time before, so that was lovely. 

It was a nice way to get in touch with Dad’s friends too. Even if they couldn’t come, they reached out and sent us messages because they’d heard about the challenge through Facebook.

Altogether we raised over £1,700 and Maggie’s sent us a letter and certificate. We’ve got it framed up on the wall in our uni home and we’re all so proud of it.

Become a Friend of ҹɫֱ²¥

Everyone with cancer deserves a place like Maggie’s. We want to continue to grow so that we can support everyone impacted by cancer in the UK.

It costs nothing to come into one of our centres - but it takes your kind donations to keep us free of charge for everyone living with cancer and their family and friends.

Become a Friend of ҹɫֱ²¥ by donating, fundraising for us or getting involved, and help Maggie’s to be here today, tomorrow and always.