Our colleague, Community Fundraiser Charlotte Campbell, 36, from Poole, is poised to walk 50km across the desert for Trek Sahara in memory of her aunt, who died from a brain tumour.
On 27ᵗʰ March, during Brain Tumour Awareness Month, Charlotte will endure extreme temperatures that can exceed 40°C and sand dunes over 180 metres tall in honour of her aunt Gina Harding-James, who passed away last year from lung cancer that metastasised into her brain.
Sadly, Gina died in November 2024 at the age of 64 – with her husband, John, and son, Philip, by her side. Charlotte said: “Auntie Gina was such a wonderful and direct sort of person. I'll miss her blunt way of talking – like asking my brother if he had a girlfriend and questioning why he didn’t!”
No stranger to physical challenges, having completed the 2020 virtual London Marathon, Charlotte and 15 others, each with their own personal stories of this devastating disease, will be covering 50km in just four days, in blistering heat.
She said: “It’ll be four days of sleeping outside without beds, no showers, no toilets. This is not something for the fainthearted and forces you out of any comfort zones. Some members of the group are currently living with a brain tumour so, if they can do it, I have no valid excuses or complaints.
"I've been in this role for 18 months and always wanted to do some direct fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, but it wasn’t until we lost my Auntie Gina that the desire became urgent and clear.”
By taking part in the Sahara Desert Trek, Charlotte will raise vital funds for the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth. As one of Europe’s leading research institutes for low-grade brain tumours, the Centre is dedicated to advancing the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours in children and adults.
You can donate to the Centre via Charlotte’s JustGiving page or, if you have been inspired to push yourself to the limit too, you can get fundraising today.
Related reading:
- Trek Sahara 2025
- Partnership unlocks new opportunities for our Plymouth scientists
- How you can help find a cure
Published Friday 24ᵗʰ January 2025.