Latest news with #BeaconCentre
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Woman, 90, completes eight-day hike of Hadrian's Wall for charity
A 90-year-old woman who walked the entire length of Hadrain's Wall for charity says the challenge was "tough and then even tougher".Mary Nicholson, from Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, raised more than £6,000 for The Beacon Centre, a cancer unit in Taunton, where her brother is receiving former midwife was joined on the eight-day trek by family members including her three daughters, youngest son and grandchildren, but said "I set the pace".Speaking to BBC West, she said she came close to "calling for the car" on several of the gruelling hills on the 85-mile (137km) route but never cracked. Mrs Nicholson said: "My feet are fine. No blisters. A bit sore but no blisters. It's not an easy walk - it was tough and then even tougher."She said it was thoughts of the Beacon Centre and her brother kept her going."It's his enthusiasm for the centre and all the care they have taken of him," she said."When you are going up the hills, and there are quite a few of them, it's quite stony and there's stony paths, wooden stiles to climb over, it's quite testing. I set the pace and off we went." She added: "Just when you think you've gone down the last hill, there's another one up ahead."I hit a physical barrier many times and I was going to call for the car many times, but we did it."Mrs Nicholson prepared by walking every day along Burnham beach and Brean Down, and began the hike on 25 April."I thought right 'I've cracked this, this is going to be a piece of cake' - [but it was] no piece of cake. It was much, much tougher than that." Mrs Nicholson moved to Burnham from Plymouth in 1972 with her husband John and their six died from cancer in 1988, and ahead of the challenge she urged people not to miss routine cancer screenings."I want to raise awareness. So much can be done if cancer is caught in time," she said."People mustn't be afraid to have their checks done. Sadly, my husband's was caught too late, my brother's was caught in time and that's made all the difference."
BBC News
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sight loss charity colour run set to return to Wolverhampton
People are being invited to sign up for a colour run in Wolverhampton to raise money for a sight loss Beacon Centre for the Blind organised its first annual Family Fun Colour Run in 2022 and last year the event raised £4,000, with 250 people taking part. The charity said the event is filled with "colour, laughter, and community spirit" as walkers and runners are showered with vibrant, non-toxic powder. Participants have coloured powders thrown on them along the 5km (3.1 miles) route around East Park, with this year's run taking place on 11 May. The Beacon Centre has also been organising a Santa Run in the city which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in charity said it aims is to "make sure no-one has to face sight loss alone" and helps people who live with conditions including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
