A Tandragee man, devastated by the loss of his wife to a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer, will mark the 10th anniversary of her passing with a very special fundraiser in Morocco.
Barry Williamson will be joined by his son, 17-year-old Rhys, and seven close friends, when they will set their sights on scaling Mount Toubkal.
And supported by daughter Mya (21), the family hope to add to the tens of thousands of pounds they have already raised over the past decade in memory of wife and mother, Alison.
The money has supported the life-saving work of Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI, and Barry has been recognised for his fundraising efforts.
In the intervening years, he has been raising money to fight – and awareness of – a cruel cancer which robbed a family and friends of one whom he described as “truly an inspiration to everyone that knew her”.
Barry told Armagh I : “It’s 10 years since I lost my wife, Alison, and through the years, from the very first year, we’ve always been setting ourselves challenges. We said we wanted to do something big to mark the 10 year anniversary. We just came across Morocco and Toubkal Mountain and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
The climb itself – for which Barry and 17-year-old Rhys and the team are already preparing – will coincide with the actual date of Alison’s passing.
Barry, who is originally from Dungannon and moved to Tandragee 21 years ago, is an active member of the City of Armagh Northern Ireland Supporters’ Club; attending “all of the away games”, he admits that “Northern Ireland is my thing”, and he is made up that five of the team are also involved with Supporters’ Clubs, a shared interest, a shared desire to help others.
“We’ve already started training,” said the Tandragee man. “I had planned this over Christmas; obviously I wanted to get a plan that this was what we were going to do but I only announced it recently because I wanted just to get the group together and that. I’ve been up the mountains every weekend, the Mourne Moutains, which is where I would do most of my training now.”
When he lost his wife, Barry took great strength from his children and family circle and friends.
And he knew that he wanted to keep Alison’s memory alive and has spoken openly many times of his loss in the hope of raising awareness.
He said: “Alison was a very active girl. She was a classroom assistant at Tandragee Primary School. She was always very bubbly and full of life, and it started becoming that she was getting very tired in the evenings, and she was coming home and going to sleep. That was so out of character and that was the first symptom that we knew that something wasn’t right.”
It was in 2015 that the family received news of Alison’s diagnosis of Hepatosplenic T-cell Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.
And despite a brave battle, time was sadly too short; Alison passed away on May 14, 2016, in the Intensive Care Unit at Belfast City Hospital.
“It took a while before Alison actually got diagnosed. She had lymphoma, blood cancer. She fought it and she had a stem cell transplant down in Dublin in St James Hospital,” explained Barry. “I would say from start to finish, it was probably eight months whenever we lost Alison from she was first diagnosed.”
Driven to make a difference to help others, Barry knows that Alison would be very proud of himself and their children.
“Before Alison did pass away, she worked in the wee local primary school in Tandragee and she did a wee fundraising event for Leukaemia and Lymphoma,” he explained, “so then that sort of kept us going, that we wanted to do this in her memory.”
The Moroccan mountain climb will push the team to their limits. But they have planned it in detail and are actively training to ensure they are up to the task.
“Toubkal is over 4,000 metres above sea level, so it’s a two-day trek for us that we’re doing,” said Barry. “The first day we walk halfway up and stay at a refuge on the mountain. Then we will set off at half four in the morning, which is going to be May 14th, the anniversary of when Alison passed away.”
While Barry, an electrician by trade, has undertaken other adventures and climbs to fundraise, he admits Toubkal will “certainly be a big challenge”.
“I’ve done quite a few mountains now,” he said. “The very first challenge we did was the Four Peaks in 48 hours, so that was Scaffold Pike, Ben Nevis, Snowdonia and Donard. I think we raised possibly about £56,000.
“I’ve done the Alps, I’ve done Switzerland, Italy, and France, three countries in three days, stuff like that. This was all for Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI.”
Glass walks, fire walks, moonlight walks, balloon releases – the list of ideas which they brought to reality and used to raise vital funds is nothing short of incredible!
And they have always attracted great support, for which Barry and family are eternally grateful.
Like the climb itself, they have a focussed plan for fundraising and getting people behind them.
Said Barry: “The first month here we’re sort of been pushing for businesses and companies. We’re looking money with regards to doing the trek, and we’re going to have the sponsorships on our T-shirts and we’re bringing a banner to the top of the mountain with the companies and businesses on it.
“We’ll also have a JustGiving page up and running as well also, which in a month or so we will be pushing.
“Every penny raised stays right here in Northern Ireland to help those who need it most.”
As the countdown begins and the training continues, Barry is overwhelmed as always with the way people have responded.
And he is beyond proud of Rhys and Mya for everything they have done and continue to do.
“I’m very, very proud of my kids now. They’re great kids and they continue to do stuff in Alison’s memory and I’m very proud of them,” he added. “To mark this 10th anniversary we’re pushing the boat out a wee bit again to do this. I probably would say this is quite a very big testing challenge, but it’s something that we really want to do.
“At 4,167 metres above sea level, Mount Toubkal is the highest peak in North Africa and the Atlas Mountains. It’s going to be a gruelling physical challenge, but we are proud to do it in Alison’s memory and in aid of Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI.”
Businesses can help by becoming a…
• Main Shirt Sponsor (£500): Your logo will be featured individually on the front of the climbing shirts and on the official banner displayed at the summit.
• Support Sponsor (£200): Your logo will be featured on the back of team shirts and on the summit banner.
In addition to the team’s own updates, the charity will acknowledge all sponsors across their social media platforms, reaching an audience of over 20,000 followers.
If you feel you can help Barry and the team please get in touch via info@llni.co.uk
And to members of the public, it you would like to help or donate, contact the Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI link https://leukaemialymphomani.enthuse.com/pf/barry-williamson
Alternatively, Barry or any of the team members can be contacted directly.
