Big-hearted hotel staff have set off on a gruelling 200-mile trek for a colleague with incurable cancer who inspired their £10,000 charity challenge.
The team of 100 walkers and cyclists from the Everbright Hotels group started the 10-day relay in North Wales and are heading for Cumbria in aid of Breast Cancer Now.
They began their epic journey at the Belmont Hotel in Llandudno.
The challenge is being staged as part of Everbright’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
The fundraisers will call at sister sites including Stone Cross Manor in Kendal, before crossing the finishing line outside the George Hotel in Penrith on Thursday, April 16.
They have been inspired to take part by Fiona Sellars, a mum-of-two with incurable cancer.
Fiona, a mum-of-two from Appleby, has worked at The George Hotel for 19 years and has had more than 50 rounds of treatment, including immunotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery.
Fiona, the group’s marketing and business development support manager is known as Fi and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022.
With her mantra of “it is what it is”, Fi has been astonishing colleagues and her family with her courage in facing the illness.
Fiona, 57, attended the start of the challenge in Llandudno and walked from the Belmont Hotel to the Llandudno Bay Hotel in support of the fundraising appeal.
She said she was absolutely overwhelmed by how many of her colleagues were taking part in the charity initiative.
Fi said: “It is so good that they are doing this, it is a bit overwhelming really.
“The support of so many colleagues has been wonderful and I am hoping we raise as much money as possible for Breast Cancer Now which is such an amazing charity.
“I just want to thank everybody for what they are doing, the Everbright group, my colleagues.
“I haven’t even met a lot of the people who are doing the challenge, it is very humbling, it is very special.
“It is a lovely way for the hotel group to mark its 10 years, they have got lovely hotels and they look after the staff and they’re good to work for.”
Helen Clark, general manager at Stone Cross Manor, said members of staff at her hotel were delighted to play a role in the fundraising challenge.
She said: “We have two colleagues taking part in the challenge and doing their section.
“We are a small team here, but we are so pleased to be involved.
“It is such an amazing cause and Fiona is a special part of the hotel group’s team through her work in marketing and business development.
“It is so nice that we can be supportive of her.
“Even though some of us are not doing the walk, we are all with them in spirit.
“We are trying to raise a huge amount of money so it would be good for people to give what they can to the fundraising appeal and help us towards our target.”
Colleagues who are not taking part in the actual walk and cycle have also been doing their bit to contribute to the fundraiser by taking part in various money-spinning initiatives.
Sheena Hoggarth and the team at The George Hotel have organised a raffle after being inspired by Fiona Sellars’s bravery.
Sheena, who does the hotel’s administration, said: “Fiona is very special to me personally, a very good friend, and I have worked with her for a long time.
“I have known Fiona since 2008, she is always smiling, always happy, and a really easy person to work with, just a lovely person inside and out.
“I have first-hand knowledge of living with cancer, I lost my husband Stephen 10 years ago, he had brain tumours.
“Fiona was there for me, she was there for me through a lot of that, so I am always there for her.
“When they started talking about the fundraising, it became important for us to do as much as we can for her.
“We have lived through Fiona’s cancer battle for the last four years, and it has been tough for her.
“I said I can’t do the walk, but I can certainly organise a raffle and we can raise more funds that way.
“There are various prizes. The George Hotel has offered a night’s bed and breakfast, Sunday lunch for two, and an afternoon tea for two, while we have also been given other prizes from guests and local businesses.
“And Penrith Lions group have donated £500 to the charity, they know Fiona too.”
Susan Stevens, head housekeeper at The George Hotel, has been selling the raffle tickets.
She said: “We have been putting the raffle tickets on the tables at work and in the rooms and I have taken some out and sold them to family and friends.
“I am particularly interested in helping Breast Cancer Now because two of my sisters-in-law have both had breast cancer.
“One has been clear for about five years and the other has just finished her treatment before Christmas.”
Everbright Hotels operations director Darryl Shaw took part in the start of the challenge and said: “It has taken a lot of planning and co-ordination.
“All those taking part have been exchanging good luck messages and looking forward to their stages of the challenge.
“The charity challenge has gathered its own momentum and we didn’t have to persuade anybody to take part, they’ve come forward and wanted to contribute and they all wish Fiona well.
“It is an absolutely fantastic charity and they have been very supportive as well.”
The group’s managing director Lei Ma, who also took part in the start of the charity challenge, said: “The way the staff are supporting this challenge is absolutely beautiful.
“Every hotel has responded very positively and during the challenge we will see many colleagues join and do their own bit and give back to the community.
“The walk works out about eight hours per day, so it is a real challenge.
“We want to raise as much money as we can and also raise awareness of cancer as well.”
Adrian Barsby from the hotel group’s marketing and sales team is the only colleague who is walking the entire 200-mile route.
Adrian, 66, said: “I am taking part in this challenge because we were talking about how we could celebrate 10 years of the hotel group.
“We thought it would be great if we could do something which linked the hotels in North Wales and Cumbria through some sort of relay and do it for research into cancer because we all know somebody who has been affected by it.
“We checked with Fiona because she is a true inspiration to all of us and she asked us to focus the challenge on raising money for Breast Cancer Now.”
Rose Joyce, a volunteer from Breast Cancer Now, attended the launch of the challenge to support the fundraisers and thank them for raising money for the charity.
Rose said: “I think it is great what they are doing, any money they raise will go towards the research and help treatment.
“Fundraising is so important because without the research we can’t get new drugs on the market to help and the new treatments are always evolving.”
A JustGiving page has been set up for the £10,000 charity challenge.
People can donate by visiting https://justgiving.com/page/everbright10yrbreastcancernow
