Brothers Nick (40), clinic Matthew (38) and Tim (37) Burn, viagra directors of the independent Boswells chain of family cafés, are set to ride 400 miles in four days in order to fundraise for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund in memory of their father, the founder of the company.
Jeremy Burn, or ‘JB’ to those who knew him, founded Boswells in 1972 when he
Jeremy Burn, or ‘JB’ to those who knew him, founded Boswells in 1972 when he was in his 20s. The first branch was a bakery in Didcot, which is also home to the company’s Head Office. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of June 2012, and whilst the family hoped to have Christmas with him, he died seven weeks later in the August of that year, aged 64.
Jeremy was semi-retired when he passed away. He had worked all his life to build the chain up and had mentored the three sons to eventually take over from him when he retired. He was popular and loved by his staff and was a great father as well as a great businessman and entrepreneur. There are very few independent café chains the size of Boswells in the country, and to have a large family business still thriving in this industry is testament to Jeremy’s business acumen and hard work.
Each year, approximately 8,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which is difficult to diagnose and treat, because it is unusually aggressive, symptoms are often vague and generally appear at an advanced stage of the disease. Around three per cent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will survive for five years or more, a figure that has barely improved in 40 years.
With an ambitious fundraising target in mind of £40,000, the brothers – joined by half-brother Charlie, brother-in-law Nick and three close friends – will set off on the 400 mile journey, starting in Newport on Wednesday 20th August, travelling through Yate, Kingswood, Chippenham, Trowbridge, Andover, Eastleigh, Portsmouth, Havant, Newbury, Reading, Didcot, Cowley and Swindon. The challenge finishes in Gloucester, the newest Boswells branch, on Saturday 23rd August.
Boswells cafés will be fundraising for the cause throughout August, with a public-participation spinathon taking place within the Eastgate Shopping Centre on the 23rd, as well as providing donation boxes and various other initiatives.
Those wishing to show their support for Team JB and help raise funds for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund can visit the Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/LeTourdeBoswells/
Matthew Burn, Director of Boswells, said: “Le Tour de Boswells finishes in Gloucester, which is poignant for us as this branch is the baby of the group, opened in November 2013. This was the first one we opened after Dad died and it was very sad that he wasn’t there to see it. We originally thought that we’d do the 400 miles over six days, but to attract sponsorship we needed to make it much tougher – so it’s now
400 miles in four days. We are new to cycling and will be very saddle-sore, but if people get behind us we can make this event a huge success for the charity.”
Jason Robinson, Centre Manager at the Eastgate Shopping Centre, said: “Boswells has been extremely popular with Gloucester shoppers since it opened and we’re excited for the Burn brothers to be completing their 400 miles in 4 days here in the Eastgate Shopping Centre. We hope that the community will come together, show the brothers how much they enjoy having the café here in the Centre, and hopefully we’ll raise a good sum of money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.”