Ten years supporting her husband’s illness, while continuing to raise money for charity, has been a long haul, and the battle goes on.

Kathryn Grimes smiles as we relax over lunch in Newport, while the sun streams down, although there will always be clouds in her life while husband, Mark, fights for his life.

Kathryn and Mark, from Ryde, founded the Wight Brainy Bunch in 2015, following Mark’s diagnosis of a brain tumour. They soon realised there was little funding for research into brain tumours, so Kathryn, who was not a keen runner, took part in the Great South Run raising £10,000 for the Brain Tumour charity.

But it was during this original fund-raising, Kathryn says, that she was taken back by messages of support from across the Island.

She said: “It wasn’t our intention to set up this charity, but so many Island people came forward to say they knew someone who knew someone who was also suffering from a brain tumour, and asked if we could do something for people over here.

“So we decided we would raise money to support families with financial assistance, like travel costs to the mainland for appointments and treatment, loss of earnings, and specialist equipment.”

Mark’s original MRI scan confirmed a low-grade Oligodendroglioma, one of the rarer tumours, which had been growing for many years and could not be surgically removed. They were told it was not a cure and, over time, it would probably recur.

This happened again in 2019, when he went through a second surgery followed by six weeks of radiotherapy and eight months of chemotherapy.

Then, in the middle of last year, Mark, a Ryde firefighter, started having headaches and his speech became slurred.

Kathryn said: “We had a routine scan in December, followed by an appointment when we were told the tumour was growing again, and Mark needed yet more treatment. More surgery is not an option, so he is taking a tablet form of chemotherapy to stop it growing, and stop further symptoms. He has five days of tablets at the start of each month, and this will continue for a year.”

Kathryn is a fund-raising co-ordinator for Smile4Wessex, a charitable support for The Wessex Neurological Centre in Southampton where Mark has had his treatment. She said: “Both my job and the charity are linked, and they both mean so much to me. We’re also fortunate to have some incredible support from the Fire Brigade.

“We don’t know how Mark will respond to his latest treatment, because a year is a long time, but he’s coping well so far.”

In the meantime, the fund-raising and the hope, continue.

The Wight Brainy Bunch hold a monthly support group (first Thursday of the month), held in the Wessex Cancer Support Centre in Newport, 6pm-7pm, providing both information and emotional support, not only to the patient, but also to their carers and family members.