Trevor’s ‘Going Home’ trek raises £1,900 for cancer fund

Trevor, who worked for the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA), set himself the challenge of walking between Omagh MOT Centre and Cookstown MOT Centre. As previously reported, he completed his amazing 27 mile walk in exactly seven hours.

Now all the sponsorship money has been collected and counted, enabling Trevor to present a bumper cheque to Cancer Focus - a cause which is close to his heart.

The lengthy trek took place on the main road between the two test centres on Monday, April 9. Trevor chose the test centres because in 1978, when he first joined the DVA, Omagh was his first base and Cookstown is his home town. He explained: “The reason I undertook this challenge was to mark my retirement from the DVA on Good Friday - my 60th birthday.”

Trevor added, “I decided to dedicate the walk to Cancer Focus, as it is a locally based charity and all the funds raised will be used in Northern Ireland. Cancer has touched the lives of both my family and friends, and in particular a number of my friends and colleagues in DVA over the years have been affected.

“Earlier this year my sister Pamela had breast cancer surgery. Although still recovering at the time of the walk, I was delighted when she turned out on the day and completed a mile of the journey with me.”

Rosie Hassin, community fundraising officer with Cancer Focus, said, “We would like to take this opportunity to thank Trevor and everyone who supported him on his walk. At Cancer Focus we understand that there is little that causes as much anxiety and stress as a diagnosis of cancer. There are currently 70,000 families in Northern Ireland living with cancer and around 11,200 people are newly diagnosed each year. Our role is to make that time of extreme stress a little more bearable by providing a range of care services for cancer patients.”

Cancer Focus is a local charity committed to tackling cancer by supporting cancer research, providing services for cancer patients and their families and by educating people on how they can reduce their risk of the disease.

If you have concerns or questions about cancer, please call the Cancer Focus freephone information and support line on 0800 783 3339. To keep updated with the latest Cancer Focus news, become our fan on Facebook at facebook.com/cancerfocusni or follow us on Twitter @cancerfocusni