Charity Challenge

Raising Money for the Epping Breast cancer Research unit

The Epping Breast Cancer Unit at St Margaret's Hospital, Epping is one of the largest breast cancer facilities north of London and undertake extensive clinic trials into breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women.

The rate of increase in breast cancer has been greater in younger women, however the causes of most breast cancers remains unknown.

Worldwide about 794,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

About Charity Challenge  

Charity Challenge was formed in 2000 by Lesa Spooner after her mother, Susan Spooner, died at the age of 47 from Breast Cancer.

During her mother's treatment, Lesa spent 3 years in and around St Margaret's Hospital. She witnessed first hand the hard work and dedication of the medical and research teams who cared for her mother while she fought this deadly disease. As a result, Lesa decided she wanted to give something back to the Unit.

At first she organised a fun run and walk, involving about 200 sponsored people. This evolved into an annual event that attracted hundreds of people each year.

Lesa wanted to expand the number of charity events and raise even more money. But at the same time she wanted to involve as many, and as wide a group of people as possible.  Her aim, and that of Charity Challenge, is to provide the opportunity for people to challenge themselves and raise funds to challenge Cancer. She did this by additionally organising quiz nights and charity balls for those who did not want to exert their energy running and walking, but were willing to support the ethos of Charity Challenge.

In 2005 Lesa was asked by Ashraf Patel, Epping's Breast Cancer Surgeon, to join a team of 20 people travelling to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the worlds highest freestanding mountain. We successfully raised £56,000.

This wonderful adventure would be the turning point for Lesa.  She recognised that there was so much more that could be done to not only raise money, but also give people an experience they would never have thought of undertaking. Challenging themselves while their fundraising helped to challenge Cancer.

During the training for Kilimanjaro, Lesa and her long standing friend of 25 years, Louise, organised a trip to climb Ben Nevis as a training exercise for the team. This turned into a wonderful weekend and a great experience. Lesa and Louise decided to make the Ben Nevis climb an annual fundraising event. Again, providing the members of the public with a rare opportunity to support a great cause, raise money, challenge themselves and achieve something that many people only dream of. This event has been running since 2005, attracting more people and raising more money every year.

Lesa and Louise didnt stop there!  After the success of Ben Nevis they decided there were so many more challenges that could be offered. These are shown in our events diary and past events section.

Lesa Spooner said -  "During my time organising charity events for the Epping Breast Cancer Unit, I have not only had some of the most amazing experiences that I will never forget, but I have met the most generous and wonderful people along the way.

They have all met the Charity Challenge."