Knebworth family named as charity's fundraisers of the year

The Margot family has been named as Leukaemia & Myeloma Research UK’s Fundraiser of the Year, after raising money in memory of Graham Margot, a beloved husband, father, and grandfather who passed away in August 2022.

Graham had been diagnosed with Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia, and as a result of the disease, he had been unable to fight off an infection of the large bowel, which developed into the life-threatening condition.

"We wanted to do something in my dad’s memory and raising money for charity at the same time was a win-win for us," said his daughter, Emily. 

"We were really overwhelmed by how many of our family and friends wanted to join and support us – so this award is a credit to each and every one of them."

The Margot family was also keen to encourage people to get checked early if something doesn’t seem right.

To mark a year since Graham’s passing, his family and close friends raised money for blood cancer research and chose to undertake a challenging walk, in aid of LMRUK.

The group of 11 took on the epic Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge earlier this year, covering the 24.5-mile trek in an impressive 10 hours.

The group was led by a professional guide and started with Pen-y-Ghent Peak, followed by Whernside Peak and Ingleborough Peak, ascending a total of 5,200ft.

Dr Joanna Tilley, operations director at LMRUK said: "Our work in educating people on blood cancer and investing in critical new research wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of our fantastic fundraisers, which is why we started the Fundraiser of the Year accolade to acknowledge their hard work and support.

"It’s an honour to crown the Margot family and their friends as this year’s Fundraiser of the Year.

"It was an incredible achievement and their efforts will make a big difference in our fight against blood cancer and protecting the next generation."

To find out more about LMRUK’s work and the research, visit lmruk.org.