Antonia Dalmahoy

Together we walk!

In April I will be celebrating 10 years of working for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity which means that the Charity has also been part of my daughter, Honor’s, life for all her living memory, and longer. Therefore, the two of us have decided to walk the 15-mile Banham Marsden March and have set ourselves the target of raising £10,000. And by walk, I mean she will hop, skip, jump and probably sail through it, held back only by my arthritic ankles and dodgy knees. I am hoping it is a suitably long enough walk that even she may slow towards the end and need the encouragement of knowing that lots of kind people like you have hopefully sponsored her, so she has to continue to drag me to the finish line.

In my time at RMCC I have been privileged to work alongside so many inspirational doctors, researchers, nurses and Charity staff who have dedicated themselves to helping the countless patients who walk through the doors of the hospital but also the hundreds of thousands of others who will never come near the hospital but benefit from the world leading research that takes place here. It has also been a joy to work with so many incredible patients who bravely share their story to support our work and I will be eternally grateful to every single supporter I have been lucky enough to meet during the last 10 years, whose generosity is truly exceptional and who make the hospital’s world-leading work possible.

There have been many times during the last ten years when I have had to tell Honor that I won’t be at her sports match, swimming gala, athletics meet, end of term concert and even occasionally a parents meeting (even though I know that is something I should not have missed). Most of the time she has accepted, with reasonable grace, that my work had to come first. And when my father/her grandfather needed the best of the best from the hospital, and my goodness they delivered and not only saved his life but did it with such compassion and commitment, she understood why the hospital and the funds needed to support their work mattered so much. She doesn’t remember it, but I will also be eternally grateful that not only have The Royal Marsden given Honor so much more time with her grandfather they also gave her a few precious months with her grandmother and gave me memories of my mother and Honor together that I will cherish forever.

Therefore, I really hope you will consider sponsoring us and helping us reach our target so that together we can say thank you to The Royal Marsden for everything they have done for our family but also for the most fulfilling, inspiring and wonderful 10 years of my professional life.

Thank you so much for anything you can generously give us, and I promise as the 15 miles pass (slower than Honor would like them to) it will be your sponsorship that keeps me going.