SWINDON CANCER APPEAL: ONE YEAR ON: March 2003 - Nationwide Building Society gave the appeal a huge boost from the onset with a massive £80,000 donation.

The Evening Advertiser sports team helped kick off the appeal with a match against Fitness First, in West Swindon. The Adver won 7-2, and the appeal gained £250.

Abigail Taylor-Silk told of her battle against Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Abigail, now 13 and a Year 10 Ridgeway School pupil has started a new course of experimental therapy at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.

April 2003

Swindon celebrity Melinda Messenger joined our campaign. She said: "I have been following the progress of the Evening Advertiser's appeal and want to add my own words of encouragement. I wish the Evening Advertiser and Macmillan Cancer Relief all the best in reaching the target of £600,000."

The whimsical sounds of a dozen barrel organs raised £1,200 at a street collection in Marlborough High Street.

Swindon councillor Fionuala Foley told how she watched father Danny Foley and her cousin Danny McCarthy die from cancer within a few years of each other. She said: "More people are being diagnosed with cancer but by supporting this appeal, help will be available for them."

More than 180 pupils at St Francis Preparatory School, Marlborough, raised £2,200 during a Macmillan Hold Your Tongue event.

May 2003

The appeal topped £100,000.

Student disc jockeys raised more than £340 at a DJ competition at Swindon's New College.

Boxing heroes, including John H Stracey, Alan Minter, Charlie Magri, Glenn Catley and John Conteh, entertained a packed Greenbridge pub in Bridge End Road for an auction and karaoke evening.

Macmile event took place which saw people taking part in a variety of fun activities each a mile long. They included dog walks, swims, walks and even a mile of pennies.

June 2003

Golf enthusiast John Hughes, of Marlborough Road, Old Town, handed over an incredible £4,600 to the appeal after fighting his own battle against the disease. John, 57, had a cancerous tonsil removed after he was diagnosed with the disease last year.

The annual Castle Mountain bike ride raised £7,738 thanks to the pedalling skills of more than 300 cyclists.

Macmillan committee secretary Ena Lewis, of Kingswood Avenue, Park North, raised £240 at her 70th birthday after she asked friends to make donations in lieu of presents.

Laura Mundy, 12, and her friends from Gorse Hill Junior School sat in a bath of custard and raised £275.

July 2003

The inaugural Wiltshire Media Awards, organised by the Swindon branch of the National Union of Journalists, raised £250 for the Swindon Cancer Appeal.

Valerie Nix held a garden party at her home in Wardour Close, Lawn, and raised more than £330 for the appeal.

Phil Ward, Mark Thomas and David Holmes teed off for a marathon golf session at Shrivenham Park Golf Club. They raised £1,000 after playing for around 16 hours as part of the Macmillan Longest Day fundraising drive.

Motorola employees raised 7,500, thanks to a prize raffle held at the Swindon-based company.

August 2003

Technology giant Intel donated £30,000, pushing the total over the quarter-way mark.

A street collection and car boot sale amassed around £1,400 at Marlborough Town Football Club's ground in Elcot Road.

Marketing manager Maurice Ponting, 52, of Magdalen Road, Wanborough, swam more than 80 lengths then went for a workout in the gym raising £190.

September 2003

Nine youngsters, including eleven-year-old Jack Coghlan, from Grange Infant Community School, Grange Junior School and Kingsdown School, raised £56 from a street sale in memory of Jack's aunt Debbie Bowen who died aged 42 from cervical cancer in August last year.

Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee Morning took place in houses and businesses all over Swindon including Intel, Hillman Solicitors in Old Town, Nationwide and Pinehurst People's Centre.

Staff and gym members at JJB Fitness, in Thamesdown Drive, held a triathlon weekend.

Bob MacComb, 55, of Downton Road, Penhill, helped raise £750 by playing an 18-hour pool marathon at the Deer's Leap in Penhill five years after having his cancerous lung removed.

October 2003

The Swindon Shamrock Supporters Club hosted a sporting auction at the Tap and Barrel pub, with star lots including a signed 1988 Celtic centenary ball they raised more than £400.

Swindon's Health Hydro hosted a sponsored swim for 70 participants, organised by Swindon Amateur Swimming Club (SASC) their efforts raised £2,000.

November 2003

Swindon Gang Show raised £500 in collections following their Christmas performances at the Wyvern Theatre.

Belly dancers gyrated their way to raising cash at Shaw Village Church Hall in Ramleaze Drive

The appeal received a major boost with a donation of nearly £4,200 from Swindon Cares the umbrella group which raises money for good causes in the town.

Portsmouth Football Club manager Harry Redknapp entertained guests at the Evening Advertiser's sporting dinner and raised £5,000.

December 2003

Shoppers at the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Village contributed around £5,000 from all proceeds from the car park.

Ruskin Junior School choir sang as Swindon mayor Derek Benfield lit up the Tree of Thought at the Great Western Designer Outlet Village.

Alan and Edith Stoddard of Nythe festooned their house in Chalford Avenue with a plethora of festive decorations and more than 23,000 lights and raised £500 in donations.

January 2004

Mother-of-five Ruth Yates, 40, shaved her head at Swindon's New College.

Macmillan nurse Vanessa Davey signed up to take part in this year's Castle Mountain Bike Ride, to be held on June 6.

A charity soul night at the Premier Club in Ermin Street, Stratton, raised £5,000

The Evening Advertiser raised £800 with a variety of events including an online auction.

February 2004

Arkell's Adver Ale commemorated the paper's 150th birthday and started raising cash for the appeal.

Businesses started sponsoring drakes for the Rotary Club of Swindon Old Town's Great Swindon Duck Race, to be held in May.

Children at Goddard Park Primary School were among thousands across the country to hold their tongues for The Big Hush, sponsored by Nationwide.

March 2004

Nationwide Building Society, in Piper's Way, donated £41,072, raised from a variety of events during the past year.

The Rotary Club of Swindon Old Town's annual sporting dinner raised more than £4,500

And there is a host of events planned for the next few months:

Flora London Marathon: April 18. Call 020 7840 7878 or email londonmarathon@macmillan.org.uk

Sponsored Abseil: May 1 at WHSmith building, Swindon. Call appeal office, Milton Road, on 01793 601636

Macmillan Miles Challenge: May 23 to 30. Call 0845 6021490 or email miles@mkpoint.com

Castle mountain bike Ride: June 6. Call Jill Greenaway on 01793 521630.

Week of hats: June 26 to July 4: people wear hats to work and organise lavish garden parties to show off their headgear.Call 0207 840 4647 or email ssheppard@macmillan.org.uk

Kentwood Choir: August 8: annual concert at Hilton Hotel. Call Gillian Thornton on 01367 252535.

To make a donation to the appeal online, click here.

Tell us about your fundraising event, click here.