Daring dozen from Barley WI tackling Pendle Way for charity

The ladies from Barley and surrounding villages will be covering 45 miles in total to support one of their members, Maree Smith (47) from Fence, who is battling the disease.

Join president of Barley WI Jayne Shaw said: "Our mission is to raise money and awareness for breast cancer care.

"The cause is quite close to all of our hearts, most of us know someone whose lives has been affected by cancer, but for Barley WI this last lockdown saw one of our members, Maree, affected.

"Maree is a bubbly young mother from Fence, with two small boys. In September last year, Maree had a scan and was found to have a huge mass in her breast. Maree is originally from New Zealand and her family are still over there so she decided to share her cancer and worries with her WI friends and wanted our support to get through it.

"She had a rota of members making her hearty family meals for months, as well as a huge amount of support and people to talk to during the lonely afternoons in the chemotherapy unit. It was no trouble to the lovely ladies of Barley and surrounding villages.

"Months later, Maree now is though the other side and though still pretty weak, she is starting to build up her strength. It took a while, but she’s now managed to walk one whole mile and is gradually clocking up the 45 miles under her own steam."

Jayne went on to described all the ladies who are taking part as "superheroes", with many being in their 70s.

The final, and eight walk in the challenge on August 7th, will see the ladies set off from Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford and finish at Barley picnic site where they will also have a celebration on the green and sell cakes from a homemade stall.

Jayne added: "The Women's Institute is well known through the 'Calendar Girls' and 'Jam and Jerusalem' but also have a long history of helping society including rehoming evacuee children during the war, and of course helping preserve foods by a national effort to make jam and pickles during rationing.

"I see my local WI as a really fun group of ladies that I get to see the first Wednesday of the month, and we don’t jsut have a laugh and chat and eat cake. Looking back at what Barley WI ladies have done over the last 18 months of lockdown, it is obvious they are much more than that, they're all superheroes."

To support the ladies, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/maree-smith?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=maree-smith&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=d314720e25494d50a0f454b7b42d47d9&fbclid=IwAR359SWdWVDECmoHv7UlE-eHkR6h1A0GSGdfVxZL8Jt6vEjhvY2HKsPk2Ps.