A veteran fundraiser is planning to mark a special anniversary with his most ambitious project yet, as he aims to aid young cancer patients.
Barry Thompson, a Stockport-based insurance director, turns 60 in March, and to mark the day, he is launching ‘60 Dos with Barry’, with an event to mark each year.
The money will benefit the teenage and young adult cancer wards at The Christie – where he is both a patron and an ambassador – adding to the £224,000 that he raised in 2014 through Project 150.
The project will feature 30 different cake sales, concerts and quiz nights between 11 January and 11 March, before Barry, a member of Stockport Harriers Athletics Club, runs between 30 insurance companies in Manchester collecting more money.
Barry aims to visit each of the 60 organisations and individuals who are planning events and is inviting runners to join him while he completes a gruelling 60-lap – or 15-mile – run at Harriers’ Woodbank Park stadium in Offerton.
“I wanted to do something special and out of the ordinary before I reach the big day on 23 March,” said Barry, who began fundraising after his wife Chris was treated at The Christie.
“We have 30 events and parties already arranged and I am confident I’ll be able to sign up all the organisations and individuals I need to complete the 60.
“I haven’t set myself a fundraising target on this occasion because I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”
As for pressure, he might not need to worry – in 2014, when he launched his Project 150 for The Christie, Barry exceeded his £150,000 target by almost £75,000, raising for the newly launched teenage and young adult cancer unit.
He and fellow supporters of The Christie charity also raised £10 million towards the development of the Palatine Treatment Centre, of which the teenage and young adult unit is a part.
The Withington-based hospital, which has been open since 1901, has over 30,000 supporters, and hopes to open a new centre for emotional support within the site at some point in the new year.
