Grabbing life by the balls!

A New Year’s Eve ball is expected to raise up to £20,000 in aid of Brain Tumour Research in memory of a Driffield woman.

Lucy Farnsworth passed away in May from a Grade 4 brain tumour aged 52.

Now, ‘Grab Life by the Balls’ has been organised in her memory by a committee led by her husband James and close friends Simone Duggleby, Sami Dee, Sharon Falkingham and Zoe Megginson.

The event, to be held on Monday 31st December at Driffield Rugby Club, has already raised in excess of £10,000 for the charity, primarily through ticket sales from the 150 guests.

However, with an auction and a Ladies Raffle also scheduled, hopes are to amount double that on the night.

James, who met Lucy at the annual Rugby Club Ball, told the Wolds Weekly that he believes Lucy would be proud of what they had organised.

“I suggested to the ladies in July about hosting a ball in Lucy’s memory and all four jumped at the chance to help me out,” he said.

“They have all been brilliant and for that I have to thank them, as well as our sponsors.

“Grab Life by the Balls is a great thing to do for New Year’s Eve and in aid of Brain Tumour Research.

“We want to help to keep the research centre open and help as many families in the future as possible.

“Lucy would be delighted at what we are doing and immensely proud of everyone involved.”

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For each £2,740 raised by a group or individual, a tile is placed on the Wall of Hope at Queen Mary University London at the charity’s Research Centre of Excellence.

Simone told the Wolds Weekly: “Lucy was a close friend of mine and since she passed away, there has been so much support for Brain Tumour Research in her memory.

“So far, we have raised over £10,000, aided by ticket sales and some fantastic support from local sponsors.

“There will also be an auction on the night with some fantastic prizes including a Caribbean holiday and an oil painting, whilst every raffle prize is worth over £40.

“Our aim is to place as many tiles as possible on the Wall of Hope at the charity’s Research Centre of Excellence.”

A Grade 4 brain tumour, also known as glioblastoma, has an average survival time of 12-18 months post diagnosis, with 25 per cent surviving more than a year and only five per cent surviving more than five years.

Raffle tickets for the evening are available at Dee Atkinson & Harrison on Market Place in Driffield and Aura on Ladygate in Beverley.

The fantastic auction prizes include

• Two tickets for Ladies US Open Final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York;
• A 10-day stay in a beautiful seafront villa sleeping six on Anguilla in the Caribbean.
• A celebration disco package courtesy of Showcase Entertainment;
• A commissioned landscape painting by local artist Belinda Hazlerigg
• Four County Stand badges plus lunch for York Racecourse during Dante May Festival 2019
• A day’s driven pheasant shooting for one gun at Fox Covert Farm, Huggate
• A detached holiday home stay on top of Yorkshire Wolds
• A catered dinner party for up to 12 in your own home

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