'Your walk, your way' - Rushden woman to host community walk for The Brain Tumour Charity this weekend at Hall Park in honour of late husband

A Rushden woman has taken the steps to organise a community walk at Hall Park on Saturday (March 30), asking people to join her to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity.

Diane Devereux’s husband, Dean, died due to complications with glioblastoma 19 months ago, and Diane is hoping to raise awareness for the condition which the charity claims is the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40.

She said: "He was an absolute legend, everybody who met him loved him. He was so kind and generous and would do anything for anybody.

“When it came time for his funeral we didn’t want flowers, that would have been a waste, so we did donations to The Brain Tumour Charity.”

Diane insists that it is also a ‘personal challenge’, as she herself has undergone cancer treatment after being diagnosed with colon cancer during the pandemic.

After two years of chemotherapy the all-clear was given and so Diane has been building her strength towards hitting a 5k target at the walk on March 30.

She added: "Dean and I used to walk virtually every night until I got poorly, we started to build me up because I literally could walk, like, 10 meters.

"It was a challenge for me to get my fitness back again and I have managed 5k which takes a lot. Two years of chemo stuffs your body up.”

Three routes of Hall Park have been mapped out in time for a 6pm start this Saturday, but Diane insists that people can take on the task as they see fit, adopting a 'your walk, your way' philosophy, saying ‘you can walk briskly slowly, or amble along, whichever suits you.’

The Brain Tumour Charity is an organisation that is committed to finding new treatments, offering the highest level of support and driving urgent change.

Its main aim is to to halve the average years of life lost to a brain tumour from 27.3 years (2015) to 13.6 years by 2030, and improve the quality of life for those affected by the condition.

Diane’s online fundraiser has already achieved its initial £500 goal, but the hope is to keep it going while raising awareness for a cause close to her family’s heart.