Pancreatic cancer charity fundraisers prepare for bus relay from Brighton to Berwick

A team of charity fundraisers are preparing to set off from Brighton to Berwick-upon-Tweed travelling on a relay of local buses.

They are supporting Craig Rowley, 27, who organised the trip to raise funds and awareness after his mother Audrey had pancreatic cancer diagnosed.

Mr Rowley, from Romford, said: “Prior to my mum’s diagnosis, I didn’t even know it existed.

“Hers was just caught a bit too late.

“After she got the cancer I began looking into it and out of all the cancer charities, it receives the least funding and yet it has the highest mortality rate.

“Only 2 per cent of sufferers make it past five years with pancreatic cancer.

“I was trying to rack my brains about doing something a bit different and it just came to me.

“I was sitting there one day and just found myself thinking: ‘I wonder if you can get from the bottom of the country to the top using just buses?’

“I’ve already pre-planned the whole thing and contacted all the bus companies.

“They’re giving us free travel – Stagecoach, Arriva, Transport for London – all of them have given us their support.”

Mr Rowley’s trip is due to start on the evening of Wednesday 23 July. It is expected to last until Saturday 26 July and involve 19 local bus journeys.

More than £2,500 has already been pledged towards Pancreatic Cancer UK which works to improve survival chances for those with the condition.

He said: “We really want to make people aware about pancreatic cancer because it’s difficult to diagnose.

“So as well as raising money, we want to raise awareness of the symptoms by raising money to go towards research, because the survival rate hasn’t changed in about 40 years because of lack of funding.

“We want to support those who are trying to cure it.”

To sponsor Mr Rowley, visit www.justgiving.com/Brighton2Berwick.