Prospect donates Wendy House ‘Tara Towers’ to incredible local cause

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 | Prospect in the community

Battling stage 4 bowel cancer at the young age of 40, inspiring local lady Tara Cunningham Harris organised a Family Fundraising Fun day at the Royal Oak Pub to raise money for her treatment and for two amazing charities that have helped her along her journey. Prospect Estate Agency are immensely proud to have taken part in the fundraiser by donating a Wendy House named ‘Tara Towers’ which went up for auction on our website and on major portals Rightmove and Zoopla to raise money for the incredible cause.

Tara Cunningham Harris was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer a month before her 40^th birthday. After 10 rounds of chemotherapy, the treatment sadly stopped working, and Tara was forced to look at alternatives – but this involved private treatment not funded by the NHS. She therefore decided to split the proceeds from the Family Fundraising Fun Day between her treatment and two amazing charities who Tara has praised for their excellent care and support – Thames Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support.

On Saturday 9^th July, there was live music, food stalls and raffles at the Royal Oak pub in Bracknell, all to raise funds for Tara and the charities that have supported her. People turned up in their hundreds to show their support, and it really was a fun day!

Perfect for little first time buyers and with no onward chain, ‘Tara Towers’ was sold in a raffle at the Family Fundraising Fun Day, contributing to the £6,000 raised for Tara’s treatment. We are so pleased to have played a part in raising money for this incredible cause and to have helped this courageous local lady with her journey.

An incredible £22,000 has been raised for Tara’s cause, both from the Family Fundraising Fun day and on Tara’s Go Fund Me page for those who couldn’t be there in person. This has completely exceeded their target, and the donations are still coming in! It’s incredible how a community can come together to achieve amazing things and help a member in need.  

Here is Tara’s story in her own words:

“Since deciding to organise this fundraiser I’ve had a setback. Unfortunately the chemotherapy stopped working and my cancer began progressing again. My last cycle was on 20 April and I have been off treatment since then, exploring alternative options.

“I have been referred for early phase trials at Oxford and have also visited the Drug Development Unit at The Royal Marsden in Sutton to see whether I am eligible for trials there. So far nothing has become available.

“I went for a second opinion at The Royal Marsden in Fulham and met with Professor David Cunningham who is the leading oncologist in colorectal cancer in the UK. Sadly there are no spaces on his NHS patient list so I am hoping to become a private patient. Obviously there are cost implications to this.

“I have also recently had a liquid biopsy with Guardant 360 to better understand the genomic sequencing of my tumour in the hope of discovering more targeted treatments and/or trials. This is not available on the NHS so we have had to cover the cost ourselves.

“Therefore following discussions with The Royal Oak, family and friends I have taken the decision to split all funds raised three ways between Thames Hospice, MacMillan and myself. It is important to me that I am clear and transparent in my intention and I hope I have your continued support.”

You can still donate to Tara’s Go Fund Me page to help fund her life-saving treatment.

Find out more about Prospect’s work in the local community by clicking here.