Wife's fundraising for Wrexham hospice breaks £100,000 target

Following the death in 2017 of Bethan Scott's husband Dave, known to his friends and family as DRS, Bethan, who works at Nightingale House Hospice, vowed to raise as much money as she could for several charities close to Dave's heart.

Having smashed a £100,000 target, which was shared in 2020 between Cancer Research, Alzheimer's UK and the hospice, Bethan decided to increase the £80,000 she had given the hospice to £100,000.

Bethan and Dave Scott.

Her amazing fundraising will continue later this year when she will be trekking Machu Picchu, in Peru, in July and then climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in September. Machu Picchu and Mt Kilimanjaro will be Bethan's third and fourth international challenge for the hospice, having already trekked the Great Wall of China in 2018 and cycled from Vietnam to Cambodia in 2019.

Bethan has opened a Nightingale House Tribute Fund so any money raised by her, and other members of Dave's family and friends would be collected in one fund.

Dave passed away on August 12, 2017 aged just 53. He was born in Scotland and left school at 16 to join the Merchant Navy, travelling the world before he joined Scottish Power, where he had successful career for over 30 years.

Super fundraiser Bethan Scott.

Bethan said: "He was such a sociable man; always interested in people and they were interested in him. He had many friends across the whole of the UK, if not across the whole world. He loved life, particularly the outdoor life. He walked, ran, cycled, and skied."

One of the many ways Bethan raised funds was to hold an annual 15-mile Memory Walk from their home on the nearest Sunday to the anniversary of Dave's passing. She has done this every year, even in 2020 when she was not allowed to walk with all her and Dave's friends and family. Due to Covid restrictions, over 50 people walked the same distance over the same weekend but from their own homes and donated to Bethan's JustGiving page in the same way as they would have done if they could have walked together.

Bethan Scott with brother Geraint and his daughter Alys.

On August 14, Bethan and friends will walk their fifth DRS Memory Walk starting and finishing at the Wynnstay, Ruabon.

Bethan said: "I have always thought by doing the things that Dave loved because I can, and by being active and getting together with friends, this was the way I wanted to raise funds for the hospice in Dave's memory. Dave was super-fit – he was a runner and a cyclist, so to go from being so fit to then losing his mobility was simply tragic.

"Coming to Nightingale House and using the hydrotherapy pool helped Dave to became confident enough to start using the day care facilities. It became a life-line for us.

"I want to thank everyone for all the incredible fundraising support I have received over the last five years."

Bethan Scott and Monty the dog.

Geraint Jones, Bethan's brother added: "As a family, we still miss David dearly and have taken great comfort from the fundraising we have been carrying out in his name. We are proud to support Nightingale House in all it does. I know personally how much comfort David got from the time he spent there. The care and support he received from devoted staff, coupled with the tender, caring atmosphere there, makes it a very easy charity to support."

• To take part and/or sponsor Bethan and her 2022 events, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bethan-scott5