If you saw a dinosaur roaming around Shenley last month, fear not – it was just resident Debbie Sumner raising cash for charity.
Debbie Sumner, who’s a fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support, staged a one-woman fancy dress parade for the charity, raising almost £3,000 in the process.
It was the 48-year-old’s original spin on the 2.6 Challenge – an initiative set up by London Marathon organisers to raise money for charities like Macmillan during lockdown.
Debbie said: “I was lying in bed thinking about how I could raise some money to make a difference to people at this difficult time. Then I heard about the 2.6 challenge.
“Obviously we’re in lockdown, but I do go out for my daily exercise to walk the dogs, so I thought I’d do a 2.6 mile walk around the village in fancy-dress and take pictures in front of different village landmarks.
“It’s really taken off in a way I wasn’t expecting. I have all kinds of people telling me they’d like to donate – people I’ve met in the woods, people from down the road, total strangers. Everyone’s getting so much fun out of it, they’re all like ‘what’s coming next?’”
Debbie’s disguises ranged from a dinosaur, to an old lady, and even to a banana.
She added: “People really didn’t know what to make of it when I stood outside the village church with some musical farmer friends (socially distanced) singing kumbaya. People were laughing their heads off as they walked and cycled past.
“My husband Neil, who’s become something of my technical director, walked along beside me in a green Macmillan T-shirt to help people understand that this is about raising money for charity, rather than some crazy lady from Shenley.”
Debbie, who ran the London Marathon for Macmillan in 2017, has seen both the effects of cancer and the help Macmillan offer first-hand – her father in law, who was diagnosed with sarcoma, died in 2017.
Two of her friends are also currently living with cancer – all three have been helped massively by the charity.
Donate to Debbie’s fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support here justgiving.com/fundraising/DeborinaFox
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