A country pub in Hambledon, Surrey has begun raising funds for PROGRESS at the meat raffle
The Merry Harriers in the village of Hambledon, Surrey, is the “local” of one of our patient Trustees, Stewart Payne. This pub donated a raffle prize of a meal for two at our launch in July, and now it continues its association with PROGRESS by donating all the money raised by its meat draw throughout the Autumn.
The first one was on Saturday September 21st and Stewart was joined by many other pub regulars, together with Fiona Huddy and Dave Paterson, who are also PROGRESS Trustees. Fiona is a specialist dietitian at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, where Stewart was treated and operated on for stage 3 oesophageal cancer, and Dave is a recovering patient.
Also present was another Hambledon villager, Ron Baker, who was operated on for the same cancer earlier this year and, with his wife Christine, was making his first visit to the pub since his major surgery.
Stewart gave a short address to explain the purpose of the new charity and how it hopes to offer support in whatever way required to patients at RSCH receiving treatment for this challenging condition. It also aims to increase awareness of its symptoms. Often oesophago-gastric cancers are not detected until a late stage, by which time surgery may not be possible.
He also thanked the owners of the Merry Harriers for their continued support and Alpa Cox, a local resident and website developer in Hambledon, who created the PROGRESS website.
The image shows Stewart saying a few words before the first raffle took place. Standing against the pub wall are Trustees Dave Paterson and Fiona Huddy and recovering patient Ron Baker
If you fancy a drink and or a meal in a lovely rural setting and giving to support to PROGRESS at the same time, the Saturday afternoon weekly meat draw is a fun occasion and always supports local good causes. PROGRESS will be the beneficiary for the next eight weeks. The raffle usually takes place at 5.15pm on Saturdays and all are welcome.
Please come and say hello if you make it there. If you would like to donate directly to the charity you can do so
here.
