A charity is inviting people to travel round the world in 18 days to raise funds for a groundbreaking cancer treatment.
The Stan Bowley Trust, based in Staffordshire, wants supporters to travel 27,588 miles by any human-powered means possible.
Teams, clubs and individuals are invited to sign up for the Best Foot Forward event, the second organised by the trust.
Organiser Stuart Bravington said: “Last year the charity set out to travel the distance Washington DC and back. Due to the huge success of the event, we are now aiming to travel the distance of around the world in 18 days. The distance of 27,588 miles, which includes a detour to Washington DC must be covered by walking, running, cycling, swimming, walking your dog, playing team sports, at the gym – in fact any way a person can travel that is human-powered.”
The Stan Bowley Trust raises funds for CyberKnife, robotic radiotherapy treatment for cancer patients. It is able to deliver high doses of radiation with sub-millimetre accuracy, enabling previously untreatable tumours to be accessed.
The trust, based in Lichfield, was founded by friends and family of Alan ‘Stan’ Bowley a former Staffordshire police officer. He underwent CyberKnife treatment in the US – at the time it was not available in the UK – after family, friends and colleagues raised £40,000 for him to travel to Washington DC.
The treatment was a success, but sadly Stan was diagnosed with further tumours and died two years later.
The trust now works to fund CyberKnife treatment in the UK. It has already helped raise funds for the treatment to be available at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where 3,000 patients have been treated.
The Best Foot Forward fundraiser starts on March 31 and runs through until April 17, the anniversary of Stan’s death.
Stuart said the 18 days was significant because that was the length of time Alan spent in Washington DC.
He added: “We are fully committed to supporting the CyberKnife at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham who are at the forefront worldwide in treating cancer patients with CyberKnife and to date have treated 3,000 patients.”
The trust will also be staging mini-events as part of the fundraiser. There will be two exercise bikes running at Tesco in Lichfield on April 2 and 3 and volunteers are being sought to pedal in half-hour slots.
To get involved, pledge some miles and help raise funds, visit www.thestanbowleytrust.org