Big-hearted hotel staff have set off on a gruelling 200-mile trek for a colleague with incurable cancer who inspired their £10,000 charity challenge.
The team of 100 walkers and cyclists from the Everbright Hotels group started the 10-day relay in North Wales and are heading for Cumbria in aid of Breast Cancer Now
They began their epic journey at the Belmont Hotel in Llandudno, calling at the nearby Llandudno Bay Hotel, and stopping in Denbigh at the end of the first leg.
The challenge is being staged as part of Everbright’s 10th anniversary celebrations
The fundraisers will call at sister sites including The Wild Pheasant and Spa in Llangollen, Rossett Hall near Wrexham and Stone Cross Manor in Kendal, before crossing the finishing line outside the George Hotel in Penrith on Thursday, April 16.
They have been inspired to take part by colleague Fiona Sellars, a mum-of-two with incurable cancer.
Fiona, the group’s marketing and business development support manager who is known as Fi, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022.
With her mantra of “it is what it is”, Fi has been astonishing colleagues and her family with her courage in facing the illness.
Fi, who has worked at The George Hotel for 19 years, has had more than 50 rounds of treatment, including immunotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery.
Fiona, 57, attended the start of the challenge in Llandudno and walked from the Belmont Hotel to the Llandudno Bay Hotel in support of the fundraising appeal.
She said she was “absolutely overwhelmed” by how many colleagues were taking part in the charity initiative.
Fi said: “It is so good that they are doing this, it is a bit overwhelming really.
“The support of so many colleagues has been wonderful and I am hoping we raise as much money as possible for Breast Cancer Now which is such an amazing charity.
“I just want to thank everybody for what they are doing, the Everbright group, my colleagues. It is very humbling, it is very special.
“It is a lovely way for the hotel group to mark its 10 years, they have got lovely hotels and they look after the staff and they’re good to work for.”
Everbright Hotels operations director Darryl Shaw took part in the start of the challenge and said: “All those taking part have been exchanging good luck messages and looking forward to their stages of the challenge.
“The charity challenge has gathered its own momentum and we didn’t have to persuade anybody to take part, they’ve come forward and wanted to contribute and they all wish Fiona well.”
The group’s managing director Lei Ma, who also took part in the start of the charity challenge, said: “The way the staff are supporting this challenge is absolutely beautiful.
“Every hotel has responded very positively and during the challenge we will see many colleagues join and do their own bit and give back to the community.”
Adrian Barsby, from the hotel group’s marketing and sales team, is the only colleague who is walking the entire 200-mile route.
He said he had been training for the challenge over the last 14 weeks by doing training walks near his home in Pantymwyn, near Mold.
He said he had tallied up more than 500 miles in his training walks.
Adrian, 66, said he had done long walk challenges previously including completing a walk from St Davids to Holywell 12 years ago.
He said: “We thought it would be great if we could do something which linked the hotels in North Wales and Cumbria through some sort of relay and do it for research into cancer because we all know somebody who has been affected by it.”
Liam Donnelly, general manager of The Belmont Hotel and Llandudno Bay Hotel, took part in the first day of the walk, covering 22 miles.
Liam, 32, said: “I am taking part because it is a real team effort and we all want to get involved in it.
“Fiona works for the company and we have all been inspired by her.”
Rose Joyce, a volunteer from Breast Cancer Now, attended the launch of the challenge to support the fundraisers and thank them for raising money for the charity.
Rose said: “I think it is great what they are doing, any money they raise will go towards the research and help treatment.
“Fundraising is so important because without the research we can’t get new drugs on the market to help and the new treatments are always evolving.”
Four members of staff from The Wild Pheasant Hotel and Spa will be walking their leg of the charity initiative, while general manager Becky Shields will be doing her own separate challenge in support of the fundraising effort.
Becky, who lives in Oswestry, will be cycling the route in two days, timing her arrival at the same time as the main fundraising group reaches The George Hotel in Penrith.
She said: “Four members of our staff are walking up the Horseshoe Pass as part of their leg of the walk.
“That is a pretty tough big hill so I am very proud of them and I don’t think any of them have walked that far recently.
“Cancer affects so many people, my mother Debbie had breast cancer and she has been through the process and come out the other side of it and she is doing well now.”
Shaun Owens, general manager at Rossett Hall Hotel, said members of his staff had stepped up to the charity challenge.
He said two members of staff were walking the challenge’s section from The Wild Pheasant Hotel to Rossett Hall, while he and another colleague would be joining in part of the way.
Shaun, 49, from Wrexham, said: “We are walking for a fantastic cause and it is something which is very close to a lot of people’s hearts.”
