Our Supporters 

We are grateful to all our regular supporters for all their efforts and hope that together we can fund research and find a cure for inflammatory breast cancer.

Paul Hamilton

(Tithead from Wigan)

A man wearing sunglasses and a red and pink T-shirt sitting outdoors at a picnic table, holding a glass of white wine and smiling, with a scenic grassy area, trees, and a blue sky in the background.
Screenshot of a woman in a pink shirt with the IBC logo, involved in a podcast episode for IBC/TITHEAD. The image features cartoon illustrations including oranges and a cyclist icon, with the words 'FULL PODCAST' and 'Watch full reel' displayed.
Two men wearing bright orange Tithead from Wigan T-shirts, smiling and posing for a selfie inside a gym or training center, with motivational posters on the wall behind them.
A social media graphic for the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Network UK featuring an illustrated person with glasses and a bald head, surrounded by icons of a cyclist, a person in a suit raising a fist, a dress, a microscope, and a silhouette of a cityscape at night. The message encourages donations to raise £25,000.

Paul, known as “Tithead from Wigan,” is championing inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) awareness and fundraising with a goal of raising £25,000 in 2025.

Under the banner of #TitheadChallenge25, he’s launching a series of impactful 2025 challenges: cycling from Blackpool to Manchester Sale Sharks, a 24-hour RoxFitness session, lighting up Pendle Hill orange, a festive Santa Pub Walk, and hosting an IBC ball. You can follow him on Instagram

Group of people in pink shirts with bicycles at a sports stadium, holding a banner for the International Breast Cancer Network UK.
A man being interviewed with a microphone on a sports field, people and a stadium in the background.

Jill Sturgeon

An orange biplane with the website 'wingwalk.buzz' on the side, flying in a clear blue sky; a woman in a harness is standing on the upper wing, preparing for a wing walk. In the background of the lower part, there is a woman wearing sunglasses and a pink shirt standing on the ground next to the plane, with a grassy field and parked aircraft visible.

In 2016 between the end of chemotherapy and surgery, Jill did a sky dive.

Jill successfully completed her Wing Walk in May 2021 after 9 attempts (due to bad weather and a global pandemic!).

Two skydivers on a plane, with one taking a selfie and the other hanging outside the aircraft. Text overlays read: 'Anyone can fundraise and it can be anything from a walk, marathon, or mountain climb' and 'I'm quite lazy... I prefer to fall out of a plane, attached very intimately, to a big hunky man.'

Six and a half years ago Jill decided to start up a lottery fundraiser called the ‘IBC Bonus ball’. Since it began she has raised in excess of £16,000!

Jill raises funds for us as she believes the need for research into inflammatory breast cancer is of paramount importance, and as ours is the only UK research into IBC she is aware the charity relies solely on our fundraisers to continue this urgent work.

Since her diagnosis in March 2016 too many lovely ladies she has known from the charity’s support group have passed away so she feels it’s the least she can do to help us.

Stephen Pugh

Nicola Pugh

Stephen Pugh

During Covid, Stephen created his own 100mile cycle route and enjoyed the peace of quiet roads (2020). He has jumped out of a plane from 15,000 feet (2016), with a parachute we hasten to add! He directed two comedy shows (2022), shaved his head (2023) and now wonders if he can be sponsored to eat pizza……..

Future challenges will be to Swim the Serpentine (2 mile outdoor swim) and walking around the coastal path of the Isle of Wight in three days.

Stephen raises money for our charity because it is a type of breast cancer that most people have never heard of, so it raises awareness, as well as raising funds for the only charity that supports dedicated research into IBC.

Stephen Pugh has been fundraising for The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Network UK since his wife, Nicola, was first diagnosed with IBC in January 2014. Nicola also undertook some fundraising, completing the Moon Walk in 2016, as well as volunteering with our charity as Treasurer. However, health and ongoing treatment meant she was not able to do as much as she wanted to, but she avidly supported Stephen in all his mad exploits! Unfortunately, Nicola passed away in November 2021, but Stephen continues to raise much needed funds each year for the charity because the death of his wife does not mean the death of this killer disease.

Stephen’s exploits have included running the London Marathon, including waxing his legs because he reached his target (2015), the Great South Run (2017), cycling the Prudential Ride 46 (2018) and 100, getting a tattoo as he smashed his target again (2019) and also the London to Brighton Bike Ride.

Nicola’s family and friends generously donated £4,000 at her funeral collection, thinking of us at the most difficult of times.

Without donors like Stephen, our charity simply wouldn’t be able to fund all the work that it does. We are grateful to him for all his crazy ways of raising funds and also for increasing awareness of both inflammatory breast cancer and our charity.

We look forward to keeping you all up to date with Stephen’s future exploits.

The Watermans

Louise, her husband Joe and her sons Sam (19) and Jude (10)

Louise Waterman, her husband Joe, their sons Sam (19) , Jude (10) and not forgetting Poppy, their dog didn’t just climb the dizzy heights of Mount Snowdon once for us, these absolute legends have completed it twice!

In 2021, just 3 weeks after completing active treatment for IBC, was the first time that Louise and her lovely family raised funds for us by scaling 1085 metres to the summit of Mount Snowdon, an absolutely oustanding achievement.

Once again, in October 2022 as part of our Pick-a-Peak campaign, they rose to the challenge and did it again! Here they are photographed coming down from the summit having braved some pretty unpleasant weather conditions.

Their eldest son Ethan (25), who lives in Guernsey also supported their climbs by raising money and awareness on the island.

Louise and her family wanted raise money for our charity to support research into a type of breast cancer that she had never heard of until being diagnosed  in July 2020. Thanks guys for both the financial support and raising awareness of inflammatory breast cancer.

Lucy Reynolds

Lucy at the South Pole, January 2020

A very close friend of Lucy’s was diagnosed with IBC in 2016 and, like most people, this was the first time either of them had heard of this rare breast cancer. 

The trip raised an incredible £20,000 for The IBC Network UK, allowing us to continue supporting those going through treatment.

Sadly, her amazing friend passed away when Lucy was in Antarctica.

On top of chilly adventures and epic walks through the English countryside to raise funds, it is also our privilege to have Lucy as a Trustee of the charity since 2023.

From November 2019 to January 2020, Lucy was crazy enough to ski from Hercules Inlet on the "coast" of Antarctica to the South Pole.  It was a 53 day guided journey covering 1133km, all while pulling her own equipment and food supplies.

It was an experience she will never forget!

You can read more about Lucy’s remarkable achievement here.