'It's a big and bold challenge': The Yorkshire baton relay touching the lives of people with cancer
A baton relay is taking place across 35 Yorkshire locations in recognition of those diagnosed with cancer in the region each year. Laura Reid speaks to some of those involved in the event.
Josie Clark had a smile on her face as she was handed the baton on the launch day of a relay fundraising initiative in support of Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR). The 60-year-old, who lives near Bridlington, took part in the first leg of a mammoth route around the region, which started in Hull.
For Josie, it marked nearly a year since she was diagnosed with cancer - an aggressive melanoma that quickly spread to her lymph nodes and left her struggling to walk.
“I was someone who walked loads,” she says. “And I started running in lockdown, started doing parkrun at Sewerby and after 96 I had to give it up because I couldn’t walk far enough to do it.”
“I really wanted to get back to being able to take part in it,” she continues. “And thanks to all the treatments I’ve been able to.”
It’s why walking with YCR’s Baton for Yorkshire was such a poignant moment for Josie, who was joined by representatives from the charity as it set off on its journey across the county.
It will travel across 35 locations in Yorkshire through May, carried by people with cancer, researchers, and supporters of the charity in recognition of the 35,000 people diagnosed with cancer in the region each year.
The route began at the new Yorkshire Cancer Research Centre in Hull, which offers the Active Together programme, a pioneering exercise service funded by the charity to help people prepare for and recover from their cancer treatment.
The baton will then finish its journey at the charity’s research centre in Harrogate on May 28, having passed through historic cities and rural market towns as well as the Dales countryside and Yorkshire coastline.
The relay launch last week also marked the start of We Walk for Yorkshire, the annual walking fundraising campaign from YCR. It calls on people to collectively walk 35,000 miles to help fund vital research.
Josie, who has already raised more than £1,200 has set herself the goal of completing 35 miles of walking through the month and sees the fundraising initiative as a way to enjoy time outdoors and reclaim moments she lost to cancer.
After finding a lump on her leg in May 2025, Josie was told she had nodular melanoma, a fast-growing type of skin cancer.
“It was a very scary place,” she recalls. “Because I’ve never been on a sunbed, never really burnt, it was a case of disbelief. How can this possibly happen to me? Then you’ve just got to get on with it and trust the experts who have got the experience and research behind them.”
Following surgery in June to remove the lump, Josie went for a check-up scan in August, which showed the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes in her groin.
“Within a matter of weeks, I had a lump the size of a golf ball,” she says. “Thankfully, the immunotherapy I had to treat it shrank it down to basically nothing. So I feel grateful for cancer research which has helped develop treatments like this. It’s been intense, but I like to keep positive.”
Josie, who is still having top-up immunotherapy treatment, and her husband have supported a cancer charity with a donation every Valentine’s Day since they married.
“With We Walk for Yorkshire, it’s good to be able to support a local charity and put something back into the local area for people around here and the next generation who suffer from cancer,” she says.
Alongside raising funds for cancer research, the relay offers carriers the chance to hold the baton for someone or something special to them and each individual is invited to place a personal message inside the baton as it makes its way around Yorkshire.
For Karen Cretton, from Yeadon, Leeds, carrying the baton is a way to show support for her niece, Jade Brabiner, who is currently receiving treatment for breast cancer.
Karen, who used to work in a primary school, was one of the first people to join the volunteer team at her local Yorkshire Cancer Research shop in Yeadon, regularly visited by 34-year-old mum-of-two Jade.
Then, in February this year, Jade was told she had a malignant phyllodes tumour, a rare form of breast cancer and Karen says it’s made “the impact of what we do at the shop much more real”.
Jade says: “I’ve been trying to do the best for my two girls and keep life normal for them, as they don’t need the worry of my cancer on their shoulders. But there have been moments where I haven’t felt brave.
“My auntie Karen has been a massive support throughout – from when I was first checking my symptoms with the GP to attending every single hospital appointment. I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Whilst Jade recovers from her second cancer operation, the pair, who have named themselves the ‘blister sisters’ team, are taking part in this year’s We Walk for Yorkshire challenge and will complete a leg of the baton relay in Yeadon later this month.
A number of well-known Yorkshire figures are also carrying the baton including former England cricketer Ryan Sidebottom and cyclist brothers Charlie and Harry Tanfield.
“Cancer has had a real impact on my family,” says Ryan, “so I’ve seen first-hand how important it is to catch things early and to not ignore what your body’s telling you.
“That’s why I wanted to get involved with We Walk for Yorkshire. It’s a big and bold challenge - people coming together across the region, step by step, to support research that can save lives.”
The charity states it is funding £75m of research to find new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer in Yorkshire. Chief Executive Dr Kathryn Scott says: “We’re seeing real progress, with new breakthroughs and discoveries leading to better treatments and cures which give people more precious time together.
“The Baton for Yorkshire is a visible reminder of the progress made possible thanks to pioneering research but also of the work that still needs to be done.”