Our Supporters and their stories
We are grateful to all our regular supporters for all their efforts and hope that together we can fund research and find a cure for inflammatory breast cancer.
Jill Sturgeon
In 2016 between the end of chemotherapy and surgery, Jill did a sky dive raising money for us and 2 other charities.
At a later date Jill had 9 attempts at taking part in a wing walk (due to bad weather and Covid), again to raise funds for us and other charities. Jill successfully completed her Wing Walk in May 2021. We received £453.00 as a result.
Six and a half years ago Jill decided to start up a lottery fundraiser called the ‘IBC Bonus ball’. Since it began she has raised in excess of £12,600!
Jill raises funds for us as she believes the need for research into inflammatory breast cancer is of paramount importance, and as ours is the only UK research into IBC she is aware the charity relies solely on our fundraisers to continue this urgent work.
Since her diagnosis in March 2016 too many lovely ladies she has known from the charity’s support group have passed away so she feels it’s the least she can do to help us.
Stephen Pugh
Nicola Pugh
Stephen Pugh
During Covid, Stephen created his own 100mile cycle route and enjoyed the peace of quiet roads (2020). He has jumped out of a plane from 15,000 feet (2016), with a parachute we hasten to add! He directed two comedy shows (2022), shaved his head (2023) and now wonders if he can be sponsored to eat pizza……..
Future challenges will be to Swim the Serpentine (2 mile outdoor swim) and walking around the coastal path of the Isle of Wight in three days.
Stephen raises money for our charity because it is a type of breast cancer that most people have never heard of, so it raises awareness, as well as raising funds for the only charity that supports dedicated research into IBC.
Stephen Pugh has been fundraising for The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Network UK since his wife, Nicola was first diagnosed with IBC in January 2014. Nicola also undertook some fundraising, completing the Moon Walk in 2016, as well as volunteering with our charity as treasurer, however health and treatment meant she was not able to do as much as she wanted to, but she avidly supported Stephen in all his mad exploits! Unfortunately, Nicola passed away in November 2021, but Stephen continues to raise much needed funds each year for the charity because the death of his wife does not mean the death of this killer disease.
Stephen’s exploits have included running the London Marathon, including waxing his legs because he reached his target (2015), Great South Run (2017), Cycling the Prudential Ride 46 (2018) and 100, getting a tattoo as he smashed his target again (2019), also the London to Brighton Bike Ride.
Nicola’s family and friends generously donated £4,000 at her funeral collection, thinking of us at the most difficult of times.
Without donors like Stephen our charity simply wouldn’t be able to fund all the work that it does, we are grateful to him for all his crazy ways of raising funds and also for increasing awareness of both inflammatory breast cancer and our charity.
We look forward to keeping you all up to date with Stephen’s future exploits.
The Watermans
Louise, her husband Joe and her sons Sam (19) and Jude (10)
Louise Waterman, her husband Joe, their sons Sam (19) , Jude (10) and not forgetting Poppy, their dog didn’t just climb the dizzy heights of Mount Snowdon once for us, these absolute legends have completed it twice!
In 2021, just 3 weeks after completing active treatment for IBC, was the first time that Louise and her lovely family raised funds for us by scaling 1085 metres to the summit of Mount Snowdon, an absolutely oustanding achievement.
Once again, in October 2022 as part of our Pick a Peak campaign, they rose to the challenge and did it again! Here they are photographed coming down from the summit having braved some pretty unpleasant weather conditions.
Their eldest son Ethan (25), who lives in Guernsey also supported their climbs by raising money and awareness on the island.
Louise and her family wanted raise money for our charity to support research into a type of breast cancer that she had never heard of until being diagnosed in July 2020. Thanks guys for both the financial support and raising awareness of inflammatory breast cancer.