VICARS TAKE ON SISTER ACT FOR STAND UP TO CANCER
FIVE ‘funny and feisty’ female vicars startled shoppers when they took a twirl in tutus to highlight Stand Up To Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.
The charity is asking people to dress up in a funny, unusual or unpredictable way to raise money for research.
And game-for-a-laugh Reverends, Ann Waizeneker, Helen Rose, Emma Ham-Riche, Angela Martin and Lisa Barnett stepped up to answer their prayers.
Teaming their clerical collars with bright orange tutus and stripy socks, thefabulous fivesome embraced the challenge with gusto - and raised eyebrows around the ancient St Mary de Haura church in Shoreham.
The five are: Helen Rose, vicar of Church of the Holy Cross, Woodingdean, Brighton, Angela Martin, 53, vicar of Holy Trinity, Forest Row, Lisa Barnett, 40, vicar at St Augustine’s, Scaynes Hill, Emma Ham-Riche, 46, assistant curate of St Mary the Virgin in East Preston with Kingston, and Ann Waizeneker, 63, vicar of St Mary de Haura and the Church of the Good Shepherd, Shoreham Beach.
They were ready to make fools of themselves in support of anyone dealing with cancer, including their colleague Revd Pauline Ingram, 63, associate vicar of Maresfield and Nutley.
Pauline was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a blood and bone marrow cancer in 2015. Initially she was told it was a slow-growing cancer best left untreated, and she should concentrate on living her life.
“This was very frightening - not easy to understand or to do”, said Pauline.
She continued to work in her parish but in summer 2018 she began to feel very ill. Her lymph glands swelled up in her gut and throat.
Pauline needed six months of chemotherapy and had to step back from clerical duties, only working when she was well enough. She has suffered setbacks including pleurisy but is now on a slow road to recovery.
She says she could not have coped without her faith.
“Cancer is a scary word but I know God loves me so I am just working through this with him. It doesn’t mean I won’t be ill or I won’t die, but I know everything will be alright – I haven’t been abandoned!” she said.
“I’m sorry I missed the tutu fun, but glad they went ahead with it. The money people raise is desperately needed – it’s thanks to research that I’m still standing.”
Revd Waizeneker said: “We had a lot of fun doing the challenge, but behind it is a serious message – funding for more research is vital and needed right now to help those facing cancer.
“We’re encouraging people to put the fun in fundraising in whatever way they like and get involved in Stand Up To Cancer’s ‘Fortnight of Fundraising’ from 11-25October.”
Stand Up To Cancer unites scientists, celebrities and communities across the UK, raising money to take developments from the lab and transform them, quickly, into brand new tests and treatments.
The campaign is supported by a host of celebrities including Davina McCall, Alan Carr, Maya Jama, Greg Rutherford and Joe Lycett.
Around 130 people are diagnosed with cancer every day in the South East*. By joining Stand Up To Cancer, supporters will be uniting with doctors, nurses, scientists and celebrities to generate funds, raise awareness and accelerate life-saving research.
A free fundraising pack is available full of ideas on how to raise some cancer crushing cash at work, home or school.
These include an ‘unpredictable dress up’ challenge like the vicars, a two-week fitness challenge or hosting a ‘crafts and laughs’ evening for a donation.
And for those who want to take on cancer in style, there’s also a striking range of Stand Up To Cancer clothing and accessories available online.
Lynn Daly, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for the South East, said: “We are very grateful to the lovely game-for-a-laugh vicars for helping to raise awareness with such panache. There has been amazing progress in the past few decades and more people are now surviving cancer than ever before. But with one in two of us in the UK set to develop the disease at some point in our lives, there’s still so much more to do.
“Supporting Stand Up To Cancer enables scientists to explore brave new ways to fight the disease and develop radical treatments, meaning more lives are saved.”
Since it was launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer has raised over £62 million to fund 52 pioneering clinical trials and research projects.
Cancer Research UK spends more than £1m per year on research in Brighton alone.
Right now, scientists are developing new tactics to boost the immune system’s ability to take out cancer cells. They’re creating cutting-edge technologies to detect cancer cells in the blood, which could transform the way cancer is diagnosed. And they’re using MRI to turn radiotherapy into a more precise, personalised and powerful anti-cancer weapon.
This autumn will see a dedicated season of programming for Stand Up To Cancer on Channel 4.
To get involved visit su2c.org.uk