The breezy Autumnal morning of Sunday 28^th October did not deter horse riders attending our annual Cross Country Fun Ride at Cannon Heath, as 200 people rode across Watership Down and the adjoining farm land.  A fantastic figure of £5,607.91 was raised and will go towards a Nuclear Medicine SPECT/CT Scanner for Radiology which is primarily used for cancer diagnosis, pre-op breast cancer surgery (sentinel node), pulmonary embolism diagnosis, staging diseases and looking for secondary bone lesions and cancers.  The Nuclear Medicine department in Basingstoke Hospital has a sole gamma camera which is now technologically obsolete due to its age – 17 years (expected life was 10 years).  Only a limited range of examinations can be undertaken with this old technology.

An abundance of positive feedback was received on the day and after the event, with comments such as “our second year doing this ride and it’s the best – will definitely be back again next year” and “brilliant organisation!”

We would like to thank everyone who rode, donated and volunteered on the day, and are very grateful to our sponsors who included Scott Dunn’s Equine Clinic and Baileys Horse Feeds.  Photos on the day were taken by SpindleTree Photography and can be viewed on their website.