Charles Stanley’s Stephen Black, took part in the Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest obstacle race and raised an amazing £1,000 for us! If you would like to take part or hold an event on our behalf, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Olivia ([email protected]), who will gladly help you.
HNCF administrator, Olivia, set herself the challenge to complete the four day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru. This is how she summarised the experience:
Visiting Machu Picchu had been a dream for quite a while, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d undertake the four day Inca Trail hike to get there! I started working for The Head and Neck Cancer foundation a year ago, and seeing the research the charity carries out to support patients is nothing short of inspiring. One cold, January evening, my friends Kate, Karen and I decided to enquire about a holiday to Peru – and by holiday I mean comfortable accommodation, luxury and a train journey to Machu Picchu. That idyllic scene rapidly changed to me agreeing to staying in basic hotels, a homestay with an indigenous family with no running water or electricity (I now know how to flush a toilet without an actual flush), camping (something I’d never done before), and trekking to Machu Picchu, but all for a cause – evidently The Head and Neck Cancer Foundation.
Training ahead of the trek had commenced six months prior to departure; by training I mean I complained for six months about my hatred for squats (though in reality they really paid off- most toilets are ‘squat bogs’ or just good ol’ nature – take your pick!) and, in staying true to my clumsy reputation I broke my toe six weeks before the trip. In terms of preparing for the trek, resistance training and stamina wasn’t something that I struggled with, but my trainer told me to ditch the cardio equipment for hours at a time and work on HIIT (high intensity interval training) and muscle training. This type of training was both a godsend and a hindrance- not once did I wake up with sore legs or muscles (though we would trek for 10+ hours a day…Most of which was very steep inclines or declines- no such thing as flat on the Inca Trail!) which was amazing. However, your body gets used to giving you its all and sprinting to its full potential for a few minutes and it then expects a rest. At 4,200 metres above sea level with very thin air, slow and steady wins the race…That’s a hard lesson to learn when you have competitive issues and your legs want to show off and demonstrate how painlessly and efficiently they can climb 8,000 steps over a period of five hours (known as Dead Woman’s Pass- for a good reason!), but your lungs are on the verge of self-combusting.
Day 2 (4,200 metres above sea level):
I can only describe today as horrendous. Dead Woman’s Pass was physically and mentally the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Our wake up call was at 5.00 am (if you know me at all, I am the devil in the morning, and at -5 degrees celsius, my mood worsened quite significantly), we had breakfast and began walking uphill and climbing stairs straight away for over five hours. As the air gradually got thinner I eventually felt as if all life has been sucked out of me. Today I also discovered that I’m not afraid of heights, but I am apprehensive about them. The higher I climbed, clouds were next to me and below me and that made me feel quite nauseous. After climbing over 7,000 steps, with only approximtely 500 more to go, I tripped over one of my walking poles and fell about five steps down, causing a bleeding graze on my hip. When you’re exhausted, “hangry” and increasingly more fearful of the clouds surrounding you, an emotional breakdown was to be expected… To add insult to injury, a porter saw my hip and decided to spit on it and leave. I don’t know why (healing, perhaps?), but I don’t think I’ve ever felt more repulsed in my life. At this point, a lovely Scotsman hugged me and then I raced him to the top because I refuse to be beaten… (Of course I won).
Upon arrival to camp I started to complain about lung pain. It was a bizarre pain and didn’t feel muscular, just a very deep pain that only allowed me to take shallow breaths (deep breaths and any form of laughter would send me into hysterical fits of crying). Our guide’s initial thought was pulmonary edema, but my blood oxygen levels would fluctuate from normal to low, so it wasn’t a definitive enough answer. In order to get me to stop crying I had to choose between purposely overdosed with a mixture of codeine, ibuprofen and paracetamol or a 12 hour walk to the nearest hospital. Coming from a Spanish/Italian family, admitting defeat is unacceptable and I would have much rather died on the mountain than seek medical attention. So I evidently opted for the overdose…Best night’s sleep ever!
Turns out I was severely dehydrated, which led to the irrational behaviour (I NEVER cry- very few people have had the pleasure of seeing me cry, so that alone was an indicator that I wasn’t in the right frame of mind). I hadn’t used the bathroom at all since the day before so my kidneys were also non-functional. Lesson learned, you can’t avoid the ‘squat bog’ unless you want to end up severely dehydrated and an irrational, teary mess.
Day 3 (3,600 metres above sea level):
Today was my favourite hiking day so far. After a good night’s rest, copious amounts of disgusting rehydration fluids and some more codeine I was back in the game and leading the group. Today was a good mixture of challenging and enjoyable and the views were incredible. We passed the ‘Cloud Forest’ today, which again made me very uncomfortable (mainly because there were very narrow paths, so you had to walk mountainside sideways in order to not fall to your tempestuous death). Today was also our last night camping. Although I can’t say that I thoroughly enjoyed freezing half to death every night and suspecting each sound was a puma or rabid alpaca, tonight’s dinner was one I’ll never forget. This journey has meant something different for each of us and it’s quite emotional to think that this part of the adventure is over. Also, the humility of the porters who carry five times the weight you carry and still overtake you is mesmerising. A trek that I only intend on doing once in this lifetime is their ‘9-5’ (though in reality it’s four days without them seeing their families, to earn a small amount of money).
Day 4 (2,450 metres above sea level):
We woke up at 3.00 am, in the bitter cold, had a piece of toast and started the hike. The walk was relatively flat, with periods of steps on an incline and then, my favourite, ‘the monkey wall’, where you climbed on your hands and feet to Sungate, where we saw the sunrise over Machu Picchu (and drank some Pisco at 7.00 am… no shame!). Though these past few days have been incredibly hard, the minute you arrive it’s all forgotten and I can honestly say I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. When you get to the tourist filled Machu Picchu and everyone is showered and groomed, whilst you smell like a mountain goat and your hair resembles a crow’s nest, you almost feel like they don’t deserve to be there. You’ve earned that view and discovered Machu Picchu in the exact same way the Incas did… Even if it almost killed me.
Eva’s annual personal challenge is to participate in the Wigan 10K, which she has been running for years.
What makes Eva’s challenge different this year, however, is that she is running on behalf our charity, along with her brave friend who was diagnosed with head & neck cancer earlier this year.
The ladies are hoping to cross the finish line in record time and raise as much as they can!
Emma and Natasha have madly (or bravely depending on who you ask!) agreed to take part in a tandem skydive.
The jump consists of a vertigo-inducing 12,000 ft fall, which includes a 30-40 second free fall before the parachute is opened.
We greatly admire the ladies for their bravery and we look forward to hearing all about it!
If you would like to support their fundraising you can do so here
Following on from the success of last year’s white-collar boxing event, we’re delighted to announce that Crystal Events will be holding another Media Fight Night in aid of our charity. The event will be taking place on Wednesday November 16th, 2016 at 18.30 in the Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have sponsored the event, The Sun, The Telegraph, Metro, Evening Standard, Daily Mail, White Collar Boxing London and Crystal Events.
We’re extremely grateful to all the boxers who are taking part and who have been incredibly dedicated to their training programmes as well as raising money for us. If you would like to support them, you can make a donation, big or small, to their JustGiving page . Let’s get ready to rumble!
Charles Stanley’s ISA Transfers Administrator, Sandeep Ladva, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in September 2016!
Sandeep says:
“Climbing Kilimanjaro was the hardest thing I’ve done but it is also the most rewarding. Not just because I reached the summit after an 8 hour slog through the night wearing literally everything I took with me on the trip to cope with the freezing temperatures but more so it was the journey to get there and everyone that was involved in the climb made it a life changing experience and one that will be hard to top! I still feel very overwhelmed right now about the whole experience and it’ll be a while before I get my head round it.
I would thank everyone who has donated, offered their kind words and support too, it is very much appreciated!! The donation page is open until the 18/10/2016 if anyone wants to donate. Onto the next one… I’m thinking Everest!
If you would like to support Sandeep you can do so here
M Restaurant’s charity golf day at Bearwood Lakes was a huge success raising £6,000 for our charity! We would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who bought a team, came along and generously supported our cause!
As Charles Stanley’s charity of the year, the team decided to sweat for a good cause! The amazing trainers at 1Rebel set up a bespoke class for Charles Stanley where they could be found sprinting and two minutes later doing burpees!
The event raised a fantastic sum of £500, which we are immensely grateful for.
Finura Partners held a golf day on June 15th and held a closest to the pin competition with proceeds being donated to our cause!
The day was a huge success with a total of £560 being raised!
Should you wish to hold an event for us, we’d be more than happy to assist you in arranging this! Contact [email protected] who will gladly work with you to make your event a success!
Jarad McCarroll, head chef at M Restarant will be taking part in a full Ironman triathlon in Germany on July 17th, 2016.
The triathlon consists of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, followed by a full marathon. What makes Jarad’s journey unique is that he works 60 hours a week and has to add 20 hours of training on top of that!
We are immensely grateful for Jarad’s hard work and commitment! You can follow his training and nutrition journey on his YouTube channel and show your support by sponsoring him here.
We’d like to wish Jarad the best of luck with all his training and the event itself!
If you’d like to follow Jarad’s example and take part in a sporting challenge, please feel completely free to contact us and we’ll gladly assist you!
In spirit of the olympic year, Guy’s Hospital surgeons Ricard Simo, Jay Goswamy and Louisa Murdin, took part in the Sprint Triathlon in Burgess Hill on June 12th.
The triathlon consisted of a 400m swim, 25km bike ride, and to conclude, a 5km run.
The team did incredibly well and all their hard work and dedication with to their training certainly paid off! If you would like to support them, please head over to their team page on MyDonate: https://mydonate.bt.com/teams/hncftriathlon2016
Alternatively, if you would like to take on any other challenges on our behalf, please do not hesitate to get in touch: [email protected] and we will gladly assist you in your endeavour!
Celena Dell, a sports therapist for QPR FC Academy (previously Chelsea FC Academy), is running a Beauty and Pamper event on June 26th, in Fairfield Community Hall, Hitchin.
The event will comprise of an afternoon of shopping and pamper treatments with each treatment lasting either fifteen or thirty minutes. All therapists are fully qualified and insured and bookings can be made via our Facebook event page
In addition to this, there will be a diverse number of shopping stalls representing local businesses and crafters, with something on offer for the whole family!
Celena has decided to run this fantastic event for us due to various family members having suffered from cancer, and she wants to support emerging research. Tickets are £5 for adults and £2 for children.
HNCF Chairman Sir Frederick Hervey-Bathurst and Maxus’ Sam Maloney set themselves the challenge of running the London Marathon. With rigorous training and an abundance of determination they completed the marathon and between them raised over £23,000 for our charity! We are so grateful for their hard work and if their story has inspired you to do the same, please do get in touch so we can secure you a place in the 2017 London Marathon! [email protected]
Our Creative Consultant Olivia is embarking on a two week trip to Peru* (not the luxurious kind, much to her disappointment!) and will be trekking to raise money for HNCF! Her fundraising page can be found here
*Please note that Olivia and her friends have funded the entire trip themselves.
This will be her itinerary for the duration of her trip:
Day 1: Arrival in Lima
Day 2: Fly to Juliaca then take a bus ride to Puno on the shores of Titicaca. Titicaca is also the largest lake in the world above 2000m.
Day 3: Enjoy a guided tour of Lake Titicaca and a homestay in a small village.
If you want to have a pawsitively good day, surrounded by canines and supporting a fantastic cause, you’ll be barking up the right tree!
Join us on a 5km walk on April 16th from award winning M Restaurant in Victoria Street to M Restaurant in Threadneedle Street.
For further details and registration, please email [email protected].
To take part all you have to do is pay a £10 registration fee, which can be done here
You can also fundraise an optional £100 on BT’s MyDonate
Thank you to everyone who came along, participated and helped us raise £1,543.90! We’d also like to thank the wonderful team at M Restaurants who were incredibly helpful and accommodating. We will be announcing who won their Instagram £1 donation per like on the most popular photo soon, so keep your eyes peeled! If you’re not on Instagram, but would like your photo to be considered, please send them to [email protected]
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all who attended The Head & Neck Cancer Foundation’s first ever white-collar boxing event on November 11th 2015. Your generosity and support made for a very successful night, with a total of £135,737.03 being raised. We’ll be announcing some exciting upcoming events in the not too distant future!
We’d also like to thank and congratulate all our boxers for their extremely hard work, dedication and fundraising. Here is a video recap of the night:
On November 18th 2015, we held our charity inauguration in The House of Lords. Guests were given a rare opportunity to see and handle some of the most advanced technology currently available in the field, which will pave the way for improved cancer care in the future. Professor Mark McGurk and Mr Luke Cascarini, leading Oral and Maxillofacial, Head and Neck Surgeons, explained the aims and objectives of the charity- which is simply that with your generous support, more research can be carried out so that head and neck cancer patients’ quality of life isn’t significantly affected post-operatively. We’d like to express our deepest gratitude and thanks to Lord and Lady Burns for hosting such a wonderful evening, as well as to our friends, colleagues and patients who came along and supported our cause.
If you’re interested in supporting HNCF in any way, please get in touch with: [email protected]
On the 27th of August, M Restaurants held a day of golf at Bearwood Lakes Golf Club, with all proceeds being donated to HNCF. The event was hugely successful with a total of £7,775 being raised.
We’d like to thank everyone who came along and helped raised vital funds for HNCF.
If you’d like to be kept informed about any similar events in future, please contact us so that we can add you to our mailing list. You might also be interested in our upcoming evening of white-collar boxing.
