A FERMANAGH family had a full weekend of fundraising in memory of their uncle Robert Carson, who passed away in 2023 from prostate cancer.
Family members started raising money for prostate cancer charities in 2019 when Robert was first diagnosed with advanced stages of the disease, and in the same year, Robert’s brother-in-law Richard Hepworth was also diagnosed.
Currently, the two organisations the family have been raising funds for are Prostate Cancer UK and the Prostate Cancer Research team at Queen’s University of Belfast Foundation.
As it was recently one year since Robert’s passing, the family decided to get their running trainers on for a cross-generation ‘Run for Rob’ effort, which saw family members of all ages taking part in both the London Marathon and Belfast City Marathon.
Robert’s niece Melissa Moorhead explained: “As well as three cousins who ran the full marathons, we organised two relay teams of family members to do the Belfast marathon. We called the campaign ‘Run for Rob’, and so far it has raised an amazing £11,262 including gift aid.”
Over the weekend, the family also had a street collection for the charities in Enniskillen and held an awareness event and charity raffle in Blake’s of the Hollow which was aimed at raising awareness on the symptoms of prostate cancer.
“The event we had in Blake’s was focused on symptoms awareness to encourage men to be aware of the symptoms and get checked if they experience them. It was a brilliant event which was supported by local businesses who were very generous,” Melissa said.
“Over the fundraising weekend we raised over £2,700 locally, which is a brilliant addition to the £11,262 we’ve raised through our runs.
“We are very passionate as a family about raising awareness about symptoms because with prostate cancer, early detection can really save lives,” she added.
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