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Ken is an electrical field service engineer in the employment of United Utilities, working on the clean water side of the business and Eileen is a housewife but is unable to work due to a number of health issues.
In their own words "Our experiences with cancer patients, including our dear son Paul, highlighted the need for avenues of support and information. Not once throughout the treatment of our son and subsequently other family members and friends, whom we have supported, has a nurse or doctor taken the time to discuss what individuals could do that would help with their treatment. This ultimately led us on a voyage of discovery, which led us to the charity CANCERactive, where we found the answers to many of the questions we had been asking. We also observed that although we could not fault the nursing care given whilst undergoing treatment, the hospital wards created a very clinical/sterile environment, which was not conducive to developing a sense of well being, which prompted us to start our charity, Mile Walk Fundraisers.
To date, we have been able to buy televisions, fridges and coffee tables etc for treatment cubicles and waiting rooms at Clatterbridge Oncology Unit. This has made treatment a little more bearable for patients and family alike. We continue to fund raise and sponsor quite a few respite centres in Halton, where patients can go to relax, receive complimentary therapies, sit and enjoy peace and quiet or chat over a cup of tea to people who are experiencing the same journey with cancer as themselves. These centres are all self funding and rely on peoples kindness and generosity to continue. We at Mile Walk shall continue sponsoring CANCERactive and the various centres in our area, knowing that we are fighting this disease on many fronts.
Eileen and I are happy to accept the role of patrons with CANCERactive because we believe that they are providing a wonderful service to cancer patients. The information they offer via their website www.canceractive.com and icon, their quarterly magazine, empowers those with cancer not just to be able to ask doctors and oncologists the right questions about their treatments but also to direct them to possible alternatives which they would otherwise never have been told about. This active role in their own treatment can reap very positive benefits for all concerned."
Chris Woollams, founder of CANCERactive added, "Ken is a fabulous man, generous in heart and spirit who is ably supported by his wonderful wife Eileen. They have raised very large sums of money through their personal efforts in their ’Mile Walk’ charity. They lost their son Paul to cancer at roughly the same age I lost Catherine. A tragedy that shouldn’t happen to any mother or father. They do wonderful work in his memory".