A determined Albyn School employee is lacing up her running shoes to give back to the charity that supported her through her own cancer journey.
Kelsey Furniss, school administrator at Albyn School, is set to run the Edinburgh Half Marathon next month to raise funds for Clan Cancer Support, a charity close to her heart.
After experiencing her own battle with thyroid cancer in 2022, Kelsey is now on a mission to help others facing the same challenges. Her fundraising efforts will support Clan’s vital services, which provide emotional and practical support to individuals and families affected by cancer across the region.
“Clan was the only charity that I was going to fundraise for. They helped me when I was going through my cancer diagnosis and I could not have had a more welcoming experience. They supported not only me, but also my family and friends who were going through it with me,” Kelsey shared.
“When I heard Albyn School were partnering with Clan for the BookBench Trail, it was the motivation I needed to set my running goals and sign up for the half marathon. I will be forever grateful for those hours the Clan team sat and listened, and I hope by doing this I can give them something back.”
Albyn School was named as education partner for The BookBench Trail with Clan last year, supporting the trail’s engagement programme which encourages schools and community groups to get involved in the project by designing their own mini BookBench sculpture. Clan chose the BookBench sculpture, which depicts an open book, because of its lifeline listening support service which enables anyone impacted by a cancer diagnosis to open up and tell their story.
Kelsey has been training hard for the race after only taking up running last year as part of the ‘Couch to 5K’ programme. Having never run a 5km race before, she has challenged herself both physically and mentally to move from running short distances at one minute at a time to reaching 21km.
“Running a half marathon is mentally a lot easier than what I’ve been through recently, so I know I can do it despite being so new to running,” said Kelsey.
She has received an outpouring of support from colleagues, friends and family who are rallying behind her fundraising goal.
The head of Albyn School, David Starbuck, praised her efforts: “We’re incredibly proud of Kelsey and are inspired by her determination. Taking on a challenge like this can be daunting when going out of your comfort zone but Kelsey is a fantastic example to us all of how by displaying resilience and initiative you can make a real difference.”
Kelsey has already smashed her fundraising target of £600 and is on track to double this amount within the next few weeks. With training heating up with 16km accomplished so far, Kelsey’s furthest run to date, she has an intense schedule to ensure she reaches the full distance before the race next month.
With lasting effects from her own cancer diagnosis that act as a daily reminder of what she went through in 2022, Kelsey hasn’t let that stop her from achieving her goals to support a cause that gave so much to her at her most vulnerable time.
Kelsey reflected: “With fundraising, I’m hoping to show that even the smallest amount of money can make a massive difference. People have fundraised for Clan before me, and their support directly helped me when I needed it the most. I’m hoping to give this back in my own way.”
The Edinburgh Half Marathon will take place on 25 May 2025 and donations can be made via this link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kelsey-Furniss?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL