In February 1998 Maureen's husband Jim was diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed away in LOROS on July 19th that year.   

Their daughter Rachael is a musician and since 2000 has been giving "From Classics to Jazz" concerts in aid of LOROS.  The concert arranged for April 2019 had to be cancelled at very short notice as Rachael had been diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma and was due for a second surgery.  This was rearranged for April 2020 and again had to be cancelled at short notice due to the pandemic.  Maureen has long term health and mobility problems and uses pedals as part of her daily exercise, so they decided to do a virtual pedal to Norfolk and back to raise funds for LOROS. After the success of this virtual journey last year, Maureen made the comment, "where next - Lands End to John o' Groats?!"  Due to the current situation, the concert could not be rearranged for this April, so Maureen thought she had better keep to her word!!

On April 13th, Maureen's 80th birthday, Rachael 'set off' from Lands End and Maureen from John o' Groats (she thinks it's downhill from there!!)  Aiming to pedal 30 miles a week, they should 'meet up' somewhere near Kendal on July 19th - the 23rd anniversary of Jim's death.

LOROS is a charity whose aim is to enhance the quality of life of adult patients with cancer, progressive neurological conditions and end-stage organ failure for whom curative treatment is no longer possible. Patients are treated at the Hospice and in the community based upon clinical need, regardless of background and the ability to pay.