Portchester local Penny Tribe is a very busy lady, despite being a full-time mum and a part-time waitress she has still found the time to organise a huge family fundraising day, this Sunday the 23rd, in aid of Cancer Research.
In our interview, she explained to me that charities which provide support to cancer patients are incredibly important to her, as she is well aware that she ‘may need it myself someday’. Tribe’s father was battling cancer through much of her youth and sadly he lost that battle during her teens. As a result, Tribe began raising money for cancer charities: she has run the race for life every year from the age of thirteen and taken part in various charity dance shows and catwalks, though this is the first large-scale event she has organised.
The motivation for this undertaking came roughly two years ago when Tribe fell unexpectedly pregnant with her son, Albie. The very same week she found out, the family also received news of a very different kind: that Tribe’s mother-in-law, Vicki, Albie’s future grandmother, had been diagnosed with cancer.
This second confrontation with the harsh realities of cancer re-invigorated Tribe’ fundraising efforts as she became even more motivated to give something back to charities like Cancer Research, for all their hard work and support.
A difficult pregnancy put things on hold for a while, but on her son’s first birthday this March, she decided that it was time, and signed up for the Great South Run managing to obtain a charity position for Cancer Research. She then grabbed a notebook and got to work planning a fundraising day to raise money for the cause.
The event was originally only meant to be a small family-orientated barbeque with a raffle but through the overwhelming support of the community, it has snowballed into what promises to be a truly unmissable day.
A slight hiccup came with the unanticipated closure of the original venue, the Wicor Mill pub. This left Tribe without a venue just weeks before the event. She turned to Facebook page ‘the voice 4 Portchester’ for help and AFC Portchester’s Steve Woods was soon in touch to save the day with the offer to host the event. But the football club isn’t just hosting the day at their grounds, they are also laying on a barbeque and will provide their own bouncy castle to add to the festivities.
Also on the day, there will be a huge inflatable slide, a maze, children’s fairground rides and even bunny petting courtesy of South Coast Rabbit Rescue – to name but a few of the fantastic attractions which Tribe has organised. There will also be music from local bands, two bars and plenty of stalls to keep the adults occupied – if they can drag themselves away from the bouncy castles, that is!
Throughout our interview, Tribe couldn’t emphasise enough the incredible contribution the community has made. The list of donated raffle prizes speaks for itself, with everything from afternoon tea vouchers in local cafes to family tickets for Blue Reef Aquarium and almost everything in between. Over five hundred pounds of vouchers in total have been donated by local businesses, for the bake sale approximately three hundred cakes are being baked by local professional bakers and countless individual donations have been made too. The event has also been sponsored in part by Portchester-based Goldstone Chartered Accountants and Super Star Sports.
Watching people come together so selflessly for such a good cause is inspiring, and Tribe agrees: ‘I believe that all together we really will be able to beat cancer sooner’. Aside from raising her goal of £2500, Tribe is keen to use this day to give people hope, for people to know ‘you are not alone’.Tribe’s hard work won’t stop on Sunday, she is already planning a Christmas ball in aid of Rowan’s Hospice and next year plans to run the London and New York marathons.
Tribe’s hard work won’t stop on Sunday, she is already planning a Christmas ball in aid of Rowan’s Hospice and next year plans to run the London and New York marathons.
To learn more about the event visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/407645802955433/
Or to donate to Penny’s fundraising page Click Here!
I was very excited to interview Penny Tribe as she really represents the ethos of this blog, she and her determination are the perfect embodiment of the Shakespeare quote that originally inspired me: ‘though she be but little, she is fierce’. Penny has been through a great deal and has come out the other side inspired and motivated to make a difference. It just shows, that one woman can do big things and in this case, bring a community together to do even more.
Wee Traveller 