Friends complete 210-mile trek to raise thousands in memory of dad

Friends Lucia Holden and Willa Barham, both aged 24, completed their amazing trek at 10pm on Tuesday (August 24) where neighbours and family members turned out to welcome them to Sibdon Carwood, near Craven Arms.

"Our knees are achy and Willa suffered badly with blisters," said Lucia who was raising money in memory of her Dada, Robert, who died in September, 2014 at the age of 58. Robert was a major figure in the art world, masterminding the sale of artworks worth millions of pounds.

"I think he would have been extremely proud of us doing this and very touched by us raising money for the charity that meant so much to him," said Lucia.

The women set themselves an initial target of £6,000 for the little known charity the Oracle Cancer Trust. As of yesterday (Wednesday) morning they had more than doubled that target.

Oracle Cancer Trust was founded by Peter Rhys-Evans, Robert's surgeon who the family found to be an "incredible support to Robert" and to them too. It is solely dedicated to funding research into head and neck cancer.

Lucia said: "Having survived throat cancer twice, once before myself and my twin were born, and again for the second time when we were nine months old, it was extremely sad to lose Dada to a heart attack.

"But we are grateful to have had him for as long as we did after so many health problems, with cancer being the largest."

The friends set off as #TeamRob from Brentford in London on August 17 and had plotted out a 170 mile route back to Shropshire, which they hoped would take one week.

But Lucia explained that getting to Birmingham via the Grand Union Canal, and then cutting across country, took many more miles than they anticipated. And on one particularly tough day they walked 37 miles, finishing their day well after dark and clocking up 80,000 steps.

"We were the least sporting and lazy people before the walk so people were amazed that we would take this on," said Willa. "I would often struggle to hit 1,000 steps in a day."

The women say they would like to find "another challenge" in the short term, rather than a return to pounding the pavements for eight to 11 hours a day.

"The worst part was the walking downhill and the pressure on our knees," said Lucia.

Her twin brother Hubert illuminated the final approaches home, carrying a torch and wearing a high visibility jacket.

Cheers, and a few glasses of rose wine, and a slap up meal greeted the intrepid paid at the finishing line before they had relaxing baths, ate roast chicken, and fell asleep.

Before heading back to London where they both work in schools Lucia recognised the massive accomplishment and reflected on those they had met on their walk.

"What was really touching and overwhelming was meeting complete strangers who wanted to know what we were doing and the charity," said Willa.

"We had one couple who said they had seen us when they drove past and when we met them again they donated money. It was very touching and generous."

Willa added: "We just laughed and laughed all the way and did not need to listen to music."

Lucia's mum Emily Holden said she is "so thrilled that they have made it, and so unbelievably proud."

A spokesperson for the Oracle Cancer Trust said: "We’re so thrilled that the girls have chosen to help raise funds; they are helping us keep the research going which will mean more people survive, and the attention they’re getting is helping us raise awareness too."

Head and neck cancer is now one of the fastest growing cancer types in the UK and sixth most common form of cancer.

Over the past 20 years Oracle has invested over £10m in research funding and made notable breakthroughs. As a result, patients are suffering with fewer treatment related side-effects and getting access to newer and kinder treatments.

The charity is keen to raise awareness of the main early symptoms: Swelling or a sore in the mouth that does not heal, red or white patch in the mouth, persistent sore throat, pain and/or swelling around the cheek, in front of the ear or under the jawbone, painless neck lumps, hoarseness or a change in voice and difficulty swallowing.

For more information visit www.oraclecancertrust.org