Graham Pagden lost his sister to cancer two years ago and now he wants to do something to show his appreciation for all the support she received from different associations during her illness. This young Estepona resident has come up with an original way of raising funds for the fight against cancer. He and four friends plan to kite surf across the Strait of Gibraltar. “We see this as a way of giving something back to the people who helped Ushi so much when she most needed it”, said Pagden.
Support has not been slow in arriving for this unusual challenge. “People are more and more aware of the problem. Statistics show that one in three of us will have some sort of cancer. Knowing what this illness is like - it can go on for a long time - the care given by these associations is very important”, he adds.
The event is initially planned to take place on June 18th, although this will depend on the weather conditions. The group of kite surfers will set off from Los Lances beach in Tarifa, crossing the Strait to land on a beach on the Moroccan coastline. The feat is expected to take between 45 minutes and an hour and a half. The organisers have also planned a programme of activities to take place on the Tarifa beach to encourage the general public to go along and support the kite surfers and make their donations.
Graham claims that their fund-raising adventure is perfectly safe. The Gibraltar Strait is an extremely busy, even congested, stretch of sea. The team will be accompanied by two Red Cross support vessels just in case the wind halts their progress. “We might see whales and even sharks, but there’s no danger”, says Pagden, who has been kite surfing for six years now.
This is the first fund-raising crossing the group has organised but they are not short of new projects to continue to help the different cancer charities. “If this crossing is successful we’ll do it again, or even turn it into a regular event”, explains the young organiser.
All of the funds raised by the kite surfers will go direct to their chosen cancer charities: Cudeca Cancer Care, the Spanish Cancer Association (AECC) and the McMillan Cancer Society. Anyone interested in supporting the challenge can do so by visiting www.crossing4cancer.com.
