Great-grandmother to lead four generations on a sponsored walk

June Clear, centre, with daughters Allison Swain, left, and Yvonne Harman, right, great granddaughter Sapphire Swain, rear right, and friend Amy Harris

Stedham great-grandmother June Clear, 76, will be leading the party, dubbing herself ‘Walking on Wheels’ as she will be doing it in her electric buggy.

She wants to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of her husband, Malcolm Clear, who died a year ago, three days before their 59th wedding anniversary.

This is the second time they have organised the walk. The whole family, including June’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, will be walking from Goring Gap to Worthing Pier and back on Saturday, taking a collection box with them to boost the sponsorship money they will be collecting.

June with her late husband Malcolm Clear

Although June lives in Stedham, the rest of the family are on the south coast, so she hopes to move to Littlehampton soon to be near them.

She said: “Since I lost my husband, I am on my own and it is difficult for them to visit as it is 60 miles away.

“Last time, there were 13 of us on the walk. We want to make this an annual thing and everyone has sponsor forms.”

Midhurst Macmillan Palliative Care Service was a huge help from the moment the family learned the devastating news that Malcolm had cancer and he was given only two to three weeks to live.

The family was devastated, their world crashed down around them but the Macmillan nurse was there to answer questions and June said she was given fantastic support.

Malcolm eventually passed away peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by his family at home, ten weeks after his diagnosis.

June said Macmillan continued to help her to find a way through the grief. She had married Malcolm when she was 16 and he had always been there for her, so she found his loss hard to come to terms with.

June said: “Macmillan have been wonderful. When I said I wanted to give something back to the charity by doing some fundraising, the whole family wanted to take part.”

Kym Clear, June’s grandaughter, will be continuing the fundraising with a Brave the Shave sponsored haircut on Saturday, August 19, for Macmillan in memory of her grandad.

The Midhurst Macmillan service offers specialist palliative care and support to patients and their families in the last 12 months of life.