Date of this year’s Walk in the Dark announced

Colleagues are signing up in a show of support for 57-year-old Andy Barnes, who has worked in the company’s Water Division for 21 years and who was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour on New Year’s Eve 2022.

Andy underwent surgery to remove the tumour last January (2023) before beginning combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy the following month.

Andy completed his treatment in October and although doctors have told him they cannot guarantee his tumour won’t return, his prognosis is good. Andy said: “I have nothing but praise for the team that treated me at Rosemere Cancer Centre and for Eric Wright Group.

“My wife Lindsey let the company know of my diagnosis the day after I received it and since then, I have had phone calls, messages and visits from colleagues checking how I am. They have been amazing. It means the world to me. I would love to go back to work.”

Andy and Lindsey will be at Walk in the Dark’s 8:15pm start at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital to see walkers off and at its finish approximately 11 miles down the A6 at the Royal Preston Hospital’s Charters Restaurant. Andy added: “That kind of distance is a bit much for me but our daughter Taylor did last year’s Walk in the Dark with a friend and thoroughly enjoyed it.”

As in previous years, Preston bus and coach company Redline Buses Ltd is supporting Walk in the Dark by laying on free shuttle buses to take walkers wanting to park cars at the Royal Preston Hospital to the start line. Darwen-based commercial printers Empine Group Ltd is also supporting Walk in the Dark with promotional banners and other event marketing materials.

Sue Swire, fundraising manager for Rosemere Cancer Foundation, said: “Walk in the Dark is our single biggest event of the year and we’re hoping that by this April, we will have around 400 walkers joining us.

“We are extremely grateful to Eric Wright Group for its continued support. I have already had the privilege of meeting Andy and some of his colleagues. They are a fantastic bunch, who will bring a lot of fun to the evening. That’s the essence of Walk in the Dark. It’s not about speed. It’s about celebrating life and the lives being saved or prolonged by the wonderful clinical teams at Rosemere Cancer Centre and our local hospital cancer units throughout Lancashire and South Cumbria that we work with and support.”

Jeremy Hartley, Chief Executive Officer of Eric Wright Group, said: “We are delighted once again to be involved in Walk in the Dark. As a local company, we have always recognised Rosemere Cancer Foundation’s hugely valuable work in supporting those in treatment both at Rosemere Cancer Centre and all of our region’s hospital cancer units. We send all the participants our best wishes as they raise money for this excellent cause.”

Entry to Walk in the Dark costs £15 per person (£10 online until 11th February). Children under-12 walk for free. Dogs are also welcome. Walkers are encouraged to dress up and to display the names of loved ones they may be walking in memory of. Refreshments are provided half way and at the finish, where medals are also presented. For further information and to register, visit www.rosemere.org.uk

Rosemere Cancer Foundation works to bring world class cancer treatments and services to cancer patients from throughout Lancashire and South Cumbria being treated at Rosemere Cancer Centre, which is the region’s specialist cancer treatment and radiotherapy centre at the Royal Preston Hospital, and also at another eight local hospital cancer units across the two counties, including that at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital.

The charity funds cutting-edge equipment, clinical research, staff training and innovative services and initiatives that the NHS cannot afford in order to make patients’ cancer journey more effective, comfortable and stress-free.

Managing Director of Eric Wright Water, Neal Whittle, of Croston, has received match funding from the company after he raised £1,292 for Rosemere Cancer Foundation by competing in last autumn’s Amsterdam Marathon. Neal, who achieved a personal best time of 3 hours 55 mins despite having his training interrupted by a knee injury, ran in support of Andy and also in memory of his Croston neighbour and good friend Shaun Banks, who lost his life to bladder cancer in September 2022.