Friends of brave Burnley mum who raised thousands for the NHS while battling cancer honour her memory with their own fundraising efforts

Kathryn Calverley, Vanessa Holland, Lesley Baxendale and Ann-Marie Stockwell raised £1,850 for Pendleside Hospice in memory of their dear friend Lindsay Sharples who raised £7,000 when she completed a sponsored 10km walk, despite the fact she was battling brain cancer and had been left numb on one side of her body following an epileptic attack.

Kathryn and Vanessa ran the Manchester Half Marathon in September and Lesley and Ann-Marie ran the Manchester 10k on the same day.

Vanessa also swam the Ullswater end-to-end seven mile open water swim and to top it off she finished first!

Paying tribute to Lindsay the friends said: "Throughout her illness Lindsay was simply the strongest, bravest, most courageous person and no matter how poorly she may have been, her wicked sense of humour never failed to leave her."

After completing the walk determined Lindsay continued her fundraising efforts and completed a one-mile swim which raised a further £11,300 for Pendleside Hospice. She also worked with staff at the Craven Heifer pub in Harle Syke to raise a further £2,700 for the Rosemere Centre.

Her magnificent fundraising efforts, in the face of such extreme challenges, caught the eye of the then Mayor of Burnley, Councillor Wajid Khan, who decided Lindsay was justly deserving of becoming the first person to receive a Mayor's Medal. The civic head launched the scheme shortly after he became Mayor to recognise the hard work and achievements of local people over his year in office.

Lindsay, who died in December last year, completed her swimming challenge at Swim School Lancashire with the support of nurses from Pendleside Hospice.

Throughout 2019 Lindsay battled various seizures, time in critical care units as well as nine major brain surgeries before she was transferred from the Royal Preston Hospital to Pendleside Hospice in July, 2020.