Dick Whittington walk raises huge sum to support prostate cancer patients at QEHB

Peter Bache, director and co-founder of Birmingham-based valuation company European Valuations, has completed an epic week-long walk from Gloucester to London, raising an incredible £61,372 to be split between Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity and Prostate Cancer UK.

Peter was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February 2017 and is now in remission, having received chemotherapy at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. After his treatment, Peter decided to turn his attention to fundraising and decided to follow in the footsteps of Dick Whittington, walking from Gloucester to London, accompanied by his friends and family.

The walk was a great success, with many of Peter’s close family and friends taking on various legs of the gruelling walk, which saw the group arrive at Mansion House in London to be met by the Lord Mayor.

Speaking of the challenge that the walk posed, Peter said: “It was incredibly difficult at points, the weather really wasn’t great for much of the week and getting up each day got increasingly harder. The support that I received along the way from my friends and family made it all so much easier, as did knowing that our efforts were going to help raise so much money for such an important cause.”

The money that Peter and his group raised will help QEHB Charity to support the research that is taking place at QEHB into prostate cancer. Peter said: “It was a huge shock when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer because I didn’t have any symptoms at all. The care that I received at QEHB was great, and I really wanted to give something back to this amazing hospital.”

Peter presented the cheque for £61,372 to Professor Nick James, Professor of Clinical Oncology at QEHB who is a key figure within QEHB Charity’s Prostate Cancer appeal. Professor James said: “My heartfelt thanks go to Peter and everyone who took part in the walk for raising such an incredible amount to support patients with prostate cancer at QEHB.

“Prostate cancer is now the most common form of cancer in men, with 47,000 new cases each year.

“Here at QEHB, we have an outreach campaign called ‘It’s a Man Thing’ and are purchasing a ‘Man Van’ to support this work. The Man Van will be piloting with QEHB Mobile Men’s Health walk-in clinics focussing on workplaces with a high risk of poor prostate cancer outcomes.”

Fundraising Manager at QEHB Charity, Cathryn Worth, said: “The Charity is incredibly grateful for Peter’s hard work and fundraising efforts. The prostate cancer appeal will help to change the lives of the thousands of men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, helping to improve treatments and increase early diagnosis.”

Peter’s fundraising will also be of great benefit to Prostate Cancer UK, with James Beeby, Director of Fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, saying: “We’re so grateful to Peter for taking on his epic Dick Whittington walk in order to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK. It is an incredible effort, one that will help us make prostate cancer a disease that the next generation of men do not fear.

If you would like to find out more about QEHB Charity’s prostate cancer appeal, please visit hospitalcharity.org/prostate

If you’d like more information about how QEHB Charity supports patients, please go to www.hospitalcharity.org or call 0121 371 4852.