Grateful sister Rachel Anderson is embarking on the trek of a lifetime amid a UK heatwave
Rachel Anderson is walking from Hull to Manchester in aid of The Christie Charity and the Teenage Cancer Trust – in the midst of a UK heatwave(Image: Rachel Anderson)
When Rachel Anderson booked a week out of work to commit to a charity challenge, she never expected it to be in the midst of a UK heatwave. Not to be daunted, 30-year-old Rachel, a freelance arts worker from Hull, is putting her best foot forward and has plenty of suncream and water packed to undertake a trek of a lifetime this week.
Rachel will set out today, aiming to cover the 107 miles from the city to The Christie, Manchester’s specialist cancer hospital, by Saturday in honour of her brother who was a patient there. Rachel’s mum and dad, Heather and David, spent months travelling back and forth on the M62 to be with Michael when he was a student undergoing treatment for stage 4 cancer at The Christie.
It was during Covid, which means his parents took it in turns, often passing each other on the motorway as they swapped places. Five years on, with Michael doing “really well” and Rachel reaching her 30th birthday, she decided to take on that same Hull-to-Manchester journey – but on foot.
Rachel said: “I’ve not done as much training as I thought I would – the longest training walk I’ve done is 17.5 miles – but it’s going to be fine. I think the worst thing will be by day three or four, when the route becomes hilly and I’m probably going to be feeling tired by then.
“The best thing is going to be the finish line – I’m going to have my family and friends waiting there for me, my brother and his partner. The reason for me doing this is what will make me keep going no matter what.”
Rachel is fundraising for two charities, The Christie Charity and the Teenage Cancer Trust. Her dad – who advised two different pairs of walking shoes for Rachel to swap and change – is driving her support vehicle and Rachel has planned for where she needs to stop over each night.
“The first two nights I’m going to drive back home and then drive back to where I finished for the next starting point. Day three I’ve got a stay in a hotel near Barnsley and day four I’m in an Air BnB just outside Manchester,” she said.
Rachel said Michael was in his last year of university in Manchester when he “had a lump checked” and found out it was testicular cancer. What he had not realised was that the really bad back pain he was also suffering was a “massive tumour” on his kidney.
“It was his 21st birthday when he had the consultant appointment and he was told he had stage 4 cancer,” she said. Her brother endured sessions of “really intensive chemo” and their parents organised sitting with him, travelling singly and in relay because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
“Michael’s fine, he’s thriving,” Rachel said. “He’s run half-marathons himself to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
“He’s working and he’s going on holidays. His treatment went really well and they are keeping an eye on him; he needs to go for check-ups.”
On her GoFundMe fundraising page, where she is well on her way to her £2.6k target but wanting to raise “as much as I can” for the two charities, Rachel admitted: “I’ve got a reasonable level of fitness – but I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never done anything like this before. Got to go hard or go home for my favourite sibling, though.
“We’ll be splitting the donations 50/50 between Teenage Cancer Trust, who Michael was really grateful to during his treatment, and The Christie Charity, who provide enhanced services over and above what the NHS can fund. Please donate whatever you can – and think of the fact that I will probably lose toenails doing this and then increase your donation by however much you think that’s worth. A lot, I reckon.”
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