My father Nick Sibcy 1945 - 2011

[spongle15]

100 miles of stunningly beautiful Cornish coast, 7 days of exhilarating walking, much laughter and thousands of pounds raised for charity…one inspiration…

On 26th November last year, I sadly lost my Dad, Nick Sibcy, to Pancreatic Cancer. Having only been diagnosed six months before, he faced his illness with incredible grace and dignity, keeping his wonderful sense of humour and charm to the end.

In celebrating his life, we plan to take Dad’s ashes on one final journey along the South West Coast that he loved so much. We will start at the gates of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, where he trained to be a Naval Officer in the 1960s, and over a week will travel the 100+ miles to Mylor, where he kept his beloved yacht ‘Eleanor of Poole’ for 20 years. Once here we will scatter his ashes at sea.

As well as saying farewell to Dad, we also intend to raise as much money as possible through sponsorship for two very important charities: ‘Myton Hospice’, where Dad was so superbly cared for in his final weeks, and ‘Pancreatic Cancer UK’. As we all know this cancer is devastating, and compared to other cancers it has been relatively neglected and its sufferers need much more support. We hope to do what we can in the fight against this terrible disease.

Dad always liked to be ‘individual’ and had a unique dress sense…during the summer months he could be spotted a mile off in his red mariners shorts and stripy socks that he seldom took off - with this image in mind the walk has been named, and every participant will be wearing red shorts! We would love you to join us or support us!

For more information see http://www.redshorts.co.uk

We have set up a Virgin Money Giving page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Redshorts - should you be able to make a donation, however small, we would be enormously grateful...

With much love to all of you who are going through / have gone through something similar.

Emma xx

[farmers wife]

Dear Emma, I am so sorry that you have lost your Dad to this terrible cancer and sincerely wish that you, your family and friends find comfort and peace during the walk and that you feel your lovely Dad walking with you along the coast.

What a wonderful idea and an amazing thing to do, I hope that you will remember this time as positive and good in the knowledge that you will have helped so many, not just with the funding but just as importantly, by your inspiration in the memory of your dear Father.

Sent with love and prayers

Karen x

[spongle15]

Dear Karen,

Thank you so much for your really lovely message, and for so kindly donating...

It is amazing how something like this really connects people. I joined this forum when Dad was first diagnosed, almost a year ago exactly. I found such comfort as I desperately tried to find answers, talking to people who were living it too, or had been through it really helped, I no longer felt quite so alone.

Raising money to try to find out more to combat this truly terrible cancer is so important to me... When Dad died he left such an enormous hole, I needed to try to fill it with something, and supporting Pancreatic Cancer UK, and Myton Hospice seemed like the best way

Thank you so much again for your support, there are so many wonderful people in this community, and you are certainly one of them.

For anyone else who is considering donating... please do... if everyone just gave a couple of pounds, just think how much we could raise!

lots of love

Emma xxxx

[PCUK Nurse Jeni]

Dear Emma,

Many thanks for your efforts in raising money for PCUK. We really do appreciate it.

Have you let the media folk know so that they can advertise it on Twitter and Facebook? This might help raise awareness of your event also. You can email Laura at laura@pancreaticcancer.org.uk.

Kind regards,

Jeni.

[rachelqt]

Hi Emma,

This is such a wonderful thing that you are doing to raise money and also in memory of your Dad. He sounds like an inspiration and im sure he will be with you all every step of the way.

Best of luck with it all

Rachel xx

[spongle15]

Dear Rachel,

Thank you so much for donating - it is really kind of you, and very much appreciated.

I know that this is what my Dad would have wanted me to do, anything that we can do to raise money for PC and raise awareness has to be a good thing.

Thank you so so much for your support.

much love

Emma xx

[Ella50]

Hi Emma.. Ella here..

So sorry again for the loss of your dad xx

What an amazing thing to do, sounds wonderful!!!

I can understand your importance in raising money and awareness for this terrible disease. I feel the same, even now.

..Its for your dad.

I truly hope you find comfort in your walk for you and your family,.. I know you will xx

Your dad sounds delightful, and just reading about him has brought a smile to my face..

Love & best wishes..

Ella xx

[Vwood]

Dear Emma, it's Victoria, Ann's daughter. Tony and I will be in Cornwall between 12 and 14 July returning to Cambridge on the 15th. We would love to see you an the family on the first day of the walk. Unfortunately Tony can't do any of the walk because of osteo arthritis in his knee for which he awaits surgery. However we would like to show morale support by at least seeing you all walking or cycling during the first day maybe by meeting you at the first staging point, having a drink, coffee or whatever fits in. If you could let us know , where is the best place to be and when. Sorry to communicate by this means but I don't have your phone number. My number is [number remover - moderator]. Look forward to hearing. Love Victoria and Tony x

[DRAD3]

What a wonderful idea, Emma. My husband Gary died in April, after a 15 month battle against this terrible disease - he was just 46 years old. We holidayed every year in Looe and it is a place we, as a family, have some truely wonderful memories. How I would love to walk the Looe to Polperro leg with you, but my daughter will still be in school. Just in case I decide to throw caution to the wind and take her out of school, what time do you envisage leaving Looe and where will you leave from? I wish you all the luck in the world and will think of you, in any case.

Much love

Deb

[spongle15]

Hi Deb,

Thank you so much for your amazing email... I am so sorry to hear about your husband, it really is a terrible disease. We would of course love you to join us if you are able to.

We plan to set off from Portwrinkle at 9.00am ish, and think it will be about 4 hours to Looe, where we will have lunch... so probably set off from Looe at 2.00pm ish for the the walk to Polperro, which will hopefully only be a couple of hours.

Do let me know what your plans are...

Take care

Emma xx

[Vwood]

Hi Emma, making our plans for Cornwall, booked a caravan park nearby, would love to hear from you.

Love Victoria x

Re: My father Nick Sibcy 1945 - 2011

by Vwood » Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:37 am

Dear Emma, it's Victoria, Ann's daughter. Tony and I will be in Cornwall between 12 and 14 July returning to Cambridge on the 15th. We would love to see you an the family on the first day of the walk. Unfortunately Tony can't do any of the walk because of osteo arthritis in his knee for which he awaits surgery. However we would like to show morale support by at least seeing you all walking or cycling during the first day maybe by meeting you at the first staging point, having a drink, coffee or whatever fits in. If you could let us know , where is the best place to be and when. Sorry to communicate by this means but I don't have your phone number. My number is [number remover - moderator]. Look forward to hearing. Love Victoria and Tony x

[DRAD3]

Hi Emma

Will not be able to take my daughter out of school after all. What a shame, so wish I could! I will be with you every step of the way and will picture the beautiful views you will encounter along the route and think of your Dad, Nick, and my wonderful hubby, Gary along with all of the others who have been lost to us. Good luck to you and much love.

Deb