We lost both our dads and a work colleague to brain tumours
Two work colleagues have spoken of their grief at losing their dads and a friend to brain tumours.
Simon England and James Robbins - partners at Lancashire-based law firm Harrison Drury both had healthy dads who started to do uncharacteristic things such as having a fall or spilling a drink in the weeks before being diagnosed. James’s father, Bob, died in 2017 at the age of 67 and Simon’s dad, Alfie, passed away aged 79 in 2022. Their friend Dominic, a father of three who lived in Chipping, was 45 when he passed away in 2015, just 13-months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
He was managing partner of Clitheroe law firm, DLH Solicitors, which had merged with Harrison Drury.
The pair are now currently undertaking a gruelling challenge of running, cycling and walking around 180 miles over five days to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity in memory of the three men.
The event also hopes to raise awareness of the environmental and wider well-being benefits of using more sustainable methods of commuting to and from work.
Simon said: “This has been a long time in the making.
“Since we came up with the idea in 2016, we’ve opened two more offices, so James and I said we better do this now before there’s any further office openings and we have to cover even more miles.”
The challenge has been named the Great Green Commute and will see Simon and James start their week by cycling the 43 miles between the Clitheroe and Kendal offices.
The next day they will run more than marathon distance with the 26.5 miles between the Kendal and Lancaster offices.
A 14.4-mile run awaits them on the Wednesday as they make their way to the firm’s Garstang office.
They’ll then get back on the bike to cover the 34 miles to Preston via the Lytham office.
The final two legs involve an almost 18-mile run back to Clitheroe, before they finish off with a 39-mile hike to the Manchester office.
James added: “It’s going to be really tough but we know we’ll have the support of our colleagues, who can hopefully cover some of the distance with us, or at least meet us along the way to hand out sweets and tell us to hurry up!”
Dominic’s widow Kate Eveson, said: “I’m so thankful to Simon and James for doing this challenge for The Brain Tumour Charity.
“It makes me feel that people do remember Dominic and the kind of person he was.
“He would absolutely love this too and would definitely be doing it himself if he were here.”
Harrison Drury’s Great Green Commute will take place until Friday.
To donate to The Brain Tumour Charity via James and Simon’s Just Giving page click HERE.