FROM ESTATE PLANNING TO 10,000FT: STEVE BISH TAKES THE PLUNGE FOR BRAIN TUMOUR RESEARCH

ST ALBANS BUSINESSMAN TAKES ON 10,000FT SKYDIVE AFTER BRAIN CANCER TOUCHED HIS OWN FAMILY

St Albans businessman Steve Bish is taking to the skies for a fundraising challenge that has become deeply personal, after losing relatives to brain cancer and being invited to join the board of In Sue’s Name — a charity seeking to raise £1 million for brain tumour research.

A Hertfordshire businessman is swapping estate planning for a skydive as he throws his support behind a charity established following the death of a young mother from brain tumours.

Steve Bish, of S Bish Estate Planning in St Albans, is due to undertake his Skydive For Sue challenge on Sunday, 13 September, raising money for In Sue’s Name.

His fundraising has already exceeded its original £1,000 target before he has even taken to the skies.

But behind the challenge lies the story of Sue Blasotta, who died in 2011 aged just 42, leaving two young children.

SIX WEEKS FROM DIAGNOSIS TO DEATH

Sue was diagnosed with three brain lesions in November 2010.

Six weeks later, she died.

More than 800 people subsequently attended her funeral.

Cancer had already affected her family, and Bish said Sue herself had been committed to fundraising for cancer research.

“Sue herself was passionate about raising funds for cancer research, having lost several family members to the disease including her grandma and grandpa,” he said.

“She took part in five 5K Race For Life events at Trent Park in North London as well as completing a sky dive herself, despite being terrified of heights.”

Her father, David Taylor, subsequently founded In Sue’s Name in her memory, combining fundraising with campaigning for greater awareness of brain tumours and increased research funding.

Bish has known Taylor for several years.

“I’ve known Sue’s father David, who set up this brilliant charity, for the last few years and have been hugely impressed with his indefatigable efforts to not just raise money but raise awareness of brain cancer and the In Sue’s Name charity in particular,” Bish said.

“David Taylor was determined to honour his daughter’s memory by raising funds for brain cancer, but moreover he has been campaigning to increase funding for research into this devastating disease.”

THE CAUSE BECOMES PERSONAL

For Bish, however, supporting the charity is not simply another corporate fundraising exercise.

He has also lost relatives to brain cancer and has now been asked to join the charity’s Board of Trustees.

That potentially turns a one-off fundraising event into a longer-term commitment to the organisation and its work.

Bish said: “Despite brain cancer killing more children and under-40s than any other cancer, only 1 percent of the government’s cancer research funding goes to brain cancer charities which is why fundraising is so important.”

“Without research, we don’t find new methods of diagnosis and treatments which is what we need to improve life expectancy and, ultimately, save lives.”

The funding figures are claims supplied by the charity and were not independently verified for this article.

A £1M FUNDRAISING AMBITION

In Sue’s Name has set itself a much larger target: raising £1 million by next year.

The money is intended to support research at the Blizard Institute in Whitechapel, part of Queen Mary University of London and home to brain tumour research.

For a relatively small charity, reaching £1 million would represent a substantial fundraising achievement.

Bish’s skydive is one contribution towards that wider objective, but his prospective role as a trustee could see him become increasingly involved in the charity’s longer-term fundraising and awareness strategy.

“I am delighted and honoured to have been asked to join the Board of Trustees for this wonderful charity and will do everything I can to support its success and raise awareness of their work and of the importance of research in our fight against brain tumours,” he said.

BUSINESS COMMUNITY BACKING A PERSONAL CAUSE

The story also illustrates the role local entrepreneurs and business owners can play in supporting smaller charities whose ability to fund research depends heavily on individual fundraising.

For Bish, that means doing something considerably removed from his everyday work at S Bish Estate Planning.

The original £1,000 fundraising target has already been surpassed.

The skydive itself still lies ahead.

And there is an appropriate symmetry to the challenge: Bish will be taking to the skies for a woman who, despite being terrified of heights, once did exactly the same thing to raise money for cancer research herself.

Anyone who wants to donate to Steve’s fundraising can do so securely online at https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/stevebish