April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Corker Cars Taxi Service and Mohammad took to social media and pledged for every booking made from the 10th of April until the 10th of May on our taxi app Corker Cars would donate 50p to Bowel Cancer UK.
We Partnered with Colon Cancer and Me founder Mohammad Samad who I’ve known since birth his mother and mine are twins and we spent almost every weekend with each other growing up. When I heard he was diagnosed with bowel cancer at only 37 years of age, I wanted to raise funds as well as raise awareness among the general population. Together, we hope to share Mohammad’s cautionary tale to ensure that others do not ignore the signs of bowel cancer and do seek a second opinion to avoid a misdiagnosis.
With your help and support and most importantly bookings through our app, we raised £603.
Bowel Cancer UK’s Senior Supporter Engagement Officer Sarah Farago had this to say:
“Thank you so much for getting back to me and for sharing the reason behind your donation.
Raising money in support of your cousin, Mohammed’s bowel cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery is such a positive and proactive thing to do. I’m sure Mohammed is touched by the amount you and the team at Corker Cars raised and we’re truly grateful to everyone who contributed to the collection.
I’ve just read all the entries of Mohammed’s blog and he is truly a brilliant writer; bravely sharing his bowel cancer journey and doing so in such an articulate way. Please do pass on my very best wishes to him for his continued “road to recovery” on behalf of everyone at Bowel Cancer UK. It sounds as though he’s had an incredibly difficult time, but that family has been a constant source of comfort for him…. That Bowel Cancer UK is thinking of him and how grateful we are for the donation from Corker Cars.
With best wishes and deep thanks.”
Since Samad’s diagnosis, of bowel cancer, we agreed we would participate in the annual Cancer Research marathon. However, due to the nerve damage and pain in his leg and foot, leaving him unable to walk independently, this year would be cancelled.
So it’ll be the next best thing I signed up for “Walk all over Cancer”! As part of the Cancer Research fundraiser, for the whole of March, I was to walk 10,000 steps every day and, by the end of it, try and raise up to £500. I thought £100 at first as I wasn’t all that confident that I would get many donations, with energy bills on the rise, petrol prices sky-high, the cost of living going up and Rishi Sunak’s pitiful attempt of showing compassion to the lady who also has children. It seemed a more realistic target but I thought to hell with it! I wasn’t going to settle for mediocre, go big or go home, baby!
I bombarded all my contacts and social media with posts and pretty much me begging for donations. It was my way to say “I hate you Cancer!”
I work in a primary school and single-handedly look after a household of 2 children and care for Samad so I knew 10,000 steps would be in my grasp and I was determined to achieve it.
But, it wasn’t the steps I was focused on, no matter what, I wanted to raise awareness for people to take note of their bodies and any changes that signalled cancer. Cancer has made more than a scar on Samad and on each and everyone around him, including our children. And the chances of them ever getting cancer are higher than before. So, if I could raise awareness and a pocket full of money for a great cause then I will bombard everyone!
I dodge lifts to take the stairs, I walk the long way to school and back. In the first 10 days, I raise over half of my total which was amazing I felt truly blessed with the amount of cash raised and the outpour of support from everyone.
My birthday falls in March and Zaibah (Samad’s sister) one of my best friends, takes me to London for a treat and we walk almost 20,000 steps! Get in!! I also use this as an excuse to raise more awareness and try and collect more donations. I’m posting nearly every day with captions from my Fitbit and my workout music with the amount left to reach my goal and the support comes flooding in from everywhere.
The week after I end up poorly, I was probably exhausted. I’ve only done 779 steps but I calculate that with all the extra steps I’ve done over the month, I still have “steps” in lieu! It all counts!
On the 23rd of March, I only had £50 to raise to get to my goal, another excuse to bombard people with more posts and texts and messages!
Within the hour my beautiful friends and family donate and collectively they’ve donated an extra £190. All in all £640 + £145 Gift (total including gift aid £785.00 *) aid was raised for Cancer Research. To get closer to earlier diagnoses and kinder treatment and, God Willing, a cure.
Thank you to everyone who supported and donated to the cause. Roll on 2023 where Samad and I will go at it together.
Writer: Noor Samad
Lianda is a great friend of ours and had her our cancer journey not too long ago. She’s also an excellent hairdresser. She managed to raise £710.00 plus £155.00 Gift Aid (total £865.00*) for her Walk for Cancer as part of the Cancer Research UK fundraiser. Maybe her gift lies within fundraisering too. Her talents are in abudance and our hearts go out to her and all her loved ones that she walked for too.
Thank you Lianda for including me in your fundraiser.
Kind regards
Mohammad Samad
Nicola Johnson is someone that I regard in very high esteem. She gave Noor a copy of the book called Doctors Get Cancer Too by Dr Philippa Kaye which helped me enormously. There were so many similarities and yet so many differences. Our timeline of events was similar for most parts of the book. And it has inspired me to write this blog.
Nicola raised a staggering £376.00 with an added Gift Aid of £70.25 (Total £446.25*).
It seems Nicola’s teaching skills go beyond the school ground and I am eternally grateful for her support and for including me in her fundraiser.
Kind regards,
Mohammad Samad
Total raised* including grouped and Gift Aid
My wonderful daughter took part in her first fundraiser, in 2023. She participated in the Pretty Muddy Kids. part of Cancer Research – Race for Life. She had a amazing time and she is already planning her next fundraiser for 2024.
Thank you to everyone who donated, with your help she raised a huge amount of money.
We’re all so proud of Isha.
I had intended to raise £250 which I thought was a steep task,. I was bowled over by your kindness having reached the target in 8 days.
Moreover, your donations kept rolling in as people were kind enough to share the posts and tweet the flyer I had created.
With your help, I managed to finish in 13th place on the individual leader’s board (out of 351 participants) having managed to collect £823 worth of donations and, if you include the Instagram donations of £65, that’s a whooping £888. With the addition of Gift Aid, the total amount jumps to £1053.75!
Isha’s second fundraiser which was originally cancelled due to a storm but was later rescheduled at a different location.
It was a miserable day, cold and wet with very little shelter. When Isha crossed the finished line her pink t-shirt had turned to a dark brown. Fortunately, she wasn’t alone as she combined forces with a friend, Sebby, and together they raised £680.00. With Gift Aid the total jumped to £836.25 (£156.25).
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