Tom's story
Setting his sights on his 10th big fundraiser
Tom Deakin has been fundraising for St Leonard’s Hospice since 2015, when his mum, Sally, was cared for by our team at the end of her life.
Every year since, he’s organised a fundraising event in her memory, and for his 10th year, he’s got a new challenge lined up.
“My mum was diagnosed with skin cancer in 1986 and breast cancer in 1996”, Tom says. “She was also diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, and she battled hard for three years. When we found out the cancer was incurable, she was in and out of the Hospice over a period of around three months at the beginning of 2015.
“She said she didn’t want to be at home at the end, and the team at St Leonard’s were brilliant and really supportive. Everyone always asks, ‘What’s the Hospice like?’, and I say it’s a really nice place to spend your final days. It’s about making those days the best they can possibly be, and we definitely saw that as a family.
“The first fundraising event that we held was the day after Mum’s funeral. We planned a 12-hour ‘throwdown’, which was 12 hours of 12 different workouts, one every hour. Workouts would vary between a one rep max deadlift to a mile run with up to 60kg carried with us, with a few gymnastics and Olympic lifting thrown in for good measure! We’d do these workouts with others in teams of four, two male and two female. Every hour would bring a new challenge, and friends, family members and colleagues would sponsor us along the way.
“We organised this event annually to try and raise as much as we could for St Leonard’s. It was always a highlight of the year for everyone at the gym!”
Tom decided that he wanted his 10th event to be unique, and on Saturday 30 August, he’ll be attempting to complete 100 holes of golf in one day (which is 5.5 rounds!) at Easingwold Golf Club.
“To honour my mum’s memory and celebrate her incredible strength, I’ve decided to take on a golfing challenge with a twist this year.
“I’m a golfer anyway, but I really wanted to push myself to see what I could achieve. You’d normally play 18 holes in a round of golf, probably averaging around 80 shots. I thought, ‘Why not multiply this by 5.5 and try 100 holes?’. The course is around 9.4km, so I’m expecting to cover over 51km on the day, starting at 5am and finishing by 8pm.
“St Leonard’s has been a lifeline to me and so many of my friends and family. Thanks to people’s generosity, we’ve raised around £17,000 so far for the Hospice in my mum’s memory. With my event this year, I’m hoping we’ll get to £20,000.”
