Why Cancer Counselling

The Sangha House in Taunton raised £700 for Frome-based counselling charity We Hear You (WHY), when three of its members tackled the Somerset Three Peaks in July.

The Sangha House offers a 12-week ‘Restart’ diet and fitness programme to help people make meaningful and sustainable changes to their lifestyle and improve their overall health. The Restart team came up with the idea of the Somerset Three Peaks challenge to round off the course and set a fitness goal for participants. The team set off to walk up Cheddar Gorge, Dunkery Beacon and West Quantoxhead on one of the hottest days of the year on 8th July, raising £700, which will go towards WHY’s counselling service for people affected by cancer or a life threatening condition.

‘So many obstacles were tackled on the day of the challenge and it certainly made me feel proud of myself’ said Laura, one of the participants. The whole team said how much raising money for We Hear You had motivated them, with Hannah saying ‘It was a charity that I believed in…my mum and my grandfather had cancer and if we’d had someone to speak to during these times it might have helped a great deal’. Tanya said ‘I wanted to do the Three Peaks…as a personal challenge but also to make me feel good about myself and achieve something that I will forever be proud of. Losing my dad to cancer made me even more determined especially as we loved walking together.’

Denise from The Sangha House said ‘When we met Gemma, we decided that We Hear You was the charity the Sangha House wanted to support.  It’s a local charity, doing absolutely incredible work for such a wide range of people who wouldn't normally be eligible for help from other organisations.  As our main focus is on building community, WHY seemed to have exactly the same aims - to support and care for people in tremendously challenging life circumstances.

What we didn't bank on was the commitment and determination of our three members and their trainer, to get up at a ridiculous hour on the hottest Sunday in memory and walk up three of Somerset’s hardest peaks.  We are massively proud of all of them, and the support and encouragement from others on social media has been overwhelming.’

Gemma Wilkes, Fundraising and Communications Manager at WHY said ‘We were delighted when The Sangha House chose to support We Hear You and I really enjoyed my visit to their amazing centre in Taunton to collect their fantastic donation. We really felt for Laura, Hannah and Tanya walking the peaks on such a hot day and would like to say a heartfelt congratulations and thank you to them and to everyone at The Sangha House. The money raised will pay for an entire course of counselling for someone coping with a life threatening diagnosis and the event has been amazing for raising awareness of WHY in the south of Somerset, which is fantastic and will help us reach more people who need our help.

For more information about The Sangha House, the Restart programme and other services available, please visit www.thesanghahouse.co.uk.