Uniting The Climbing Community In The Fight Against Cancer

"I am terminally ill, and my clock is ticking. This you may say is my ‘crux’ and I either fall or push on to the summit."

John Ellison – 22/07/63 – 27/12/15

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When you meet individuals who are small in size but great in stature they leave a lasting impression… some a lasting legacy. This describes Lancashire born John Ellison, father, husband, climber, coach, and founder of Climbers Against Cancer (CAC).

In 2011, John received the news most people fear. "Sorry to have to tell you this John but you have an advanced cancer that is aggressive, and to add to that you also have a secondary cancer." In short, John was terminally ill, and his clock was ticking. “This was my ‘crux’ and I either fall or push on to the summit. For me, there was only one option and since that day I have kept on climbing, taking in the beauty around me and enjoying every challenge that lies ahead.”

At 4am on 28th October 2012, a year after his terminal cancer diagnosis, John Ellison had a dream and began what he would later call his “fabulous journey”. His aim was ultimately to find a cure for cancer, by uniting the global climbing community he loved.

 

John Ellison

John says, “while thinking about the possibilities of Climbers Against Cancer as an idea, I remembered the saying ‘strength in numbers’ and how the world of climbing as a family has so much power to deliver a message across the globe. If, as a group of friends, we come together and support CAC, it can help others in the future; raising awareness and funds to further research and finally find a cure for cancer! Being open about my own predicament has helped others feel more comfortable in discussing this disease and whether talking to adults or children I have seen a huge change in attitude.”

John set about creating and selling colourful t-shirts with all proceeds going directly to cancer research facilities around the world. He managed to rally the climbing community into action, sharing shots of their t-shirts across social media. The popularity of the t-shirts took even John by surprise!

Sadly, John lost his fight with cancer in December 2015 but the team at CAC have endeavoured to keep his message alive and continue with the donations he felt so passionately about.

But the journey doesn’t end there as Sue Grimshaw, one of the trustees carrying on John's work, says:

I first met John when I was climbing at the Manchester Climbing Wall. In 2012, while John was at the World Championships in France he came up with the idea of CAC.

Michael (my son) was out there with some friends and basically said to John ‘my mum does that sort of thing, go and see her when you get back to the UK’. That's how I became involved with CAC. I helped John with the initial purchase of the t-shirts which were to become the base on which CAC was built, and later I became a trustee.

We had the first 100 t-shirts printed and it snowballed from there.

 

Sue Grimshaw

While the colours of t-shirts, colours of the print, how we distributed them, how much to charge, and all the ins and outs of the charity were being decided I got to know John. I know people cope with cancer in many ways, but I would like to think if I were in the same boat, I would be able to accept and deal with it like John.

He was very open and honest about the cancer. Sometimes this was refreshing because there are questions people like to ask but are too scared to or think it would be upsetting for John. Sometimes it was sad. He told me he used wake up, sort of feel fine, and then suddenly remember he had cancer. He also wasn’t afraid of playing the ‘cancer card’ to get something if he thought it beneficial to the charity. He would just keep going and going.

John’s main aim was that all monies raised from the sale of any item purchased from the website, events supporters take part in, and donations would all go to CAC. Nothing would be used for the administration, wages, or running cost of the charity. This is achieved by our fabulous sponsors at all levels, which pay staff wages, the rent for the small office, and all the utility bills.

Eventually, as CAC grew, I would tell him (as many of his friends did) that he needed someone to help him run the charity. The trustees already had full-time jobs and work commitments and could not put in the time that he did.

This is when Helan came to work for CAC - about three months before John died. Many times, she would have to wake John up from in front of the computer. Getting information out of him was like pulling hen’s teeth, ‘I’ll do it this time, then I’ll show you’ he would say to Helan. CAC was his baby, it was keeping him going and he didn’t want to let go, let alone die from cancer.

When John died, I don’t think anybody expected the charity to carry on. Or even be able to without him, who had the first-hand experience of cancer out there, going to comps, promoting and presenting the cheques on behalf of CAC.

But we are still here despite Covid-19. Battling on as most small and I guess large charities are, especially in this climate.

Covid-19 has reduced the donations massively, stopped events running where we normally raise thousands of pounds, and we miss meeting people at the same events. Luckily, most of our sponsors have renewed their sponsorship with CAC and the office can stay open.

Going forwards has been a struggle. There are only so many t-shirts you can buy, and John hated what he called ‘tat’. So, we are now looking at a women's range and going down the organic route. We don’t want to get too technical and start competing with our sponsors. Plus, that gets expensive and we don’t have the financial resources to follow that through. John’s glasses are going to become more prominent in future designs and hopefully become as recognisable as the Nike tick. I know there are many in the outdoor scene we are still to reach, from families that go camping on bank holidays, right through to the expedition teams that climb the highest mountains in the world.

As John use to say, “in life, we are all climbers”.

 

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CAC make multiple donations around the world each year. The money goes directly into cancer research or to ‘the people in white coats with Petri dishes’, just as John wished.

CAC was only able to make one donation in 2020, to the Korean National Cancer Centre. For 2021, there are two donations planned: one to Germany and one to Mexico. Combined, they amount to £25,000. Hopefully, CAC will be able to hand over cheques at IFSC events but even if they are unable to do so, the donations will still go ahead.

The CAC team love nothing more than when their supporters get involved and show the world how much CAC means to them. From meeting and talking to people at events, seeing pictures of people in their CAC t-shirts, being involved in fundraisers and so much more. CAC is a community, and it is a supporting and caring one.

Their biggest fundraiser to date was 8-year-old Edward Mills. In 2018, he became the youngest person to scale the Old Man of Hoy and raised over £41,000 for CAC in the process. Edward presented a cheque to The Christie charity on behalf of CAC at the Kendal Mountain Festival, and then went on to win BBC’s young fundraiser of the year.

Ellis Brigham has been proud to support CAC since 2016.

Climbers Against Cancer – a small charity with a huge heart. Find out more about the charity here: https://www.climbersagainstcancer.org

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