Melksham Carnival Queen treks 62 miles and raises over £4,000 for breast cancer charity

A Melksham woman recovering from breast cancer has trekked 62 miles and raised over £4,000 for a breast cancer awareness charity.

Debbie Holman, who is this year’s Melksham Carnival Queen, recently embarked on a six-day trek across the Isle of Skye in Scotland for CoppaFeel!, a breast cancer awareness charity that promotes early detection by encouraging women under 30 to check their breasts regularly.

She initially set out to raise £2,500 for the charity but has exceeded her target, raising £4,050.

“I am absolutely blown away by the generosity and support I’ve had from everyone. This money will make such a difference,” said Debbie.

Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 at the age of 38. After undergoing a right-side mastectomy (a surgical procedure to remove a breast), six rounds of chemotherapy and 12 months of Herceptin treatment, she has dedicated her life to raising awareness of breast cancer and fundraising for charity.

“Doing this trek after cancer was a real challenge,” said Debbie, who was part of a wider group of walkers taking part in the challenge.

She said, “Walking back-to-back daily I knew was going to be hard, but we made it. I definitely think the adrenaline helped, and the support of everyone around me on the trek.”

“The highlights were meeting everyone and hearing their stories as to why they were there, and obviously being in Skye was absolutely beautiful.

“Some of the walks we did were absolutely stunning. I think the biggest challenge was getting up every day and doing it again; we were on our feet for nine hours a day, but we just kept telling each other, ‘one foot in front of the other.’

“I would absolutely do the trek again — the experience was just amazing and a little bit of healing. I don’t currently have any fundraising planned, but I think I’ll absolutely do another CoppaFeel! challenge. This won’t be my last.”

Debbie’s friends and family have also taken on their own fundraising challenges, donating all the proceeds to Debbie’s CoppaFeel! campaign.

Melksham’s Carnival Prince, Guy Newman, will have 25 inches of his hair cut off for the charity on carnival day this weekend, Saturday 5th July. Debbie’s friend, Kelly Hilbert, who has also had breast cancer, recently ran the Melksham parkrun in a breast costume.

Kelly has undergone breast cancer treatment and said her friendship with Debbie has been incredibly supportive in helping them both through hard times.