A BAND of friends have joined together to make a stand against cancer.
The small team from Haverigg Prison Visitors' Centre have been put through their paces for the past few months as they vowed to raise thousands of pounds for charity.
Their challenge - dubbed Three Months of Madness - was inspired by their brave friend and colleague, Lisa Cloudsdale, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour last October.
Determined to do something positive, the group set out on a fundraising quest that saw them raise £3,910 for Rosemere Cancer Foundation - the organisation that delivered Mrs Cloudsdale her treatment.
Mrs Cloudsdale, who was stunned to discover how much they'd raised, said: "It's amazing. We set out to raise £1,000 and then maybe £1,500 and even when we started counting it I didn't think it would amount to that level."
The idea was dreamed up by Mrs Cloudsdale and the visitors' centre manager, Heather Thorn, who got her entire team involved to help with the fundraising.
She said: "Everyone has been affected by someone with cancer and Lisa is such a valuable member of staff and a really well-loved person so we all put our ideas on the table and it went from there."
As well as staff from the visitors' centre, many of Mrs Cloudsdale's closest friends and family also got involved with the challenge, including Jack Rowe from Ulverston, who raised £400 by climbing Black Combe.
Through a variety of activities that included everything from a sponsored head shave to an ice bucket challenge, the team inspired the rest of their community to dig deep to raise money for the centre, that has already helped a number of Millom families.
Mrs Cloudsdale said: "Rosemere is really important. It would be nice to have it a little bit closer or some more facilities nearer here but the staff, support and quality of care it gives is really good."
Rosemere provides care to many cancer patients in the North West, with many people from south Cumbria making the long journey to Preston as often as five days a week for treatment.
Sue Thompson, chief officer for Rosemere Cancer Foundation, was delighted to receive the cheque and believes the donation will make a huge difference to the work it carries out.
She said: "This is a fantastic amount of money. This level of donation gives us the opportunity to do something that really makes a difference to cancer patients."
Mrs Cloudsdale is delighted that her efforts can help make a difference to other cancer patients and spoke with genuine pride at what she and her friends have achieved.
She said: "I'm proud of people in Millom and this area and I'm really proud of these guys. They're a wonderful team and we're all good friends as well as workmates."
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