TRUE STORY

Bridget Ovenden

Breakthrough £1,000 Challenger

I first heard about Breakthrough when the Daily Express Columnist, Jean Rook, died in 1995. I had lost a good friend to breast cancer in 1990, so I felt compelled to lend my support.

Sadly, at the same time another friend passed away. I suggested that the money collected in memory be sent to Breakthrough. Breakthrough then asked me to take up the £1,000 Challenge.

“I took up the Challenge and to my surprise raised £1,000 through a coffee morning at a friend’s home and thought - this is easy.”

I'm a hairdresser and a member of the W.I., so I have built up a good supportive network of friends. These friends ensure that my fundraising events are a success; a lot are as impassioned as me through their own experience of breast cancer.

I hold two main annual events, a Crocus Walk and a spring mini market, plus a few "top up" activities like a coffee morning or garden party.

My most successful and enjoyable event is the Crocus Walk. To motivate my supporters to come out and walk on Mothers' Day, we make it a Dog Walk! It's a really nice morning with lovely people.

I can't stop fundraising for Breakthrough. Breast Cancer is tragic as so many young women die.

To date my total raised is £30.672.81.

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