A charity darts tournament held in memory of a much-loved mother has raised more than £1,000 for ovarian cancer awareness, as dozens of players took to the oche in her honour.
The competition was staged at The Queens Head pub in Tiverton to remember Diane Lovegrove, who died aged 76, and to raise money for Target Ovarian Cancer .
Around 46 people took part in this year’s event on Sunday, February 22.
Michelle Lovegrove, Diane’s daughter, said the tournament was first launched two years ago to coincide with the anniversary of her mother’s death and her own 50th birthday.
Michelle said: “We first launched this darts competition two years ago on the anniversary of my mum’s passing, and it was also my 50th birthday.
“We decided it was a good opportunity to do something positive out of a bad situation. I did not want to do anything massive for my birthday, so I thought we would do something for my mum instead.
“We had a big darts competition, it went really well and we raised about £518 the first time.”
She said the event was designed to be open to all abilities.
Michelle said: “The whole point is that it is open to everybody, whatever their level, just to have a bit of fun and raise money.
“It is not about the very best players. It is about everyone coming along, having a good time and enjoying a game of darts.”
She added that this year organisers again set a target of £518 but had already exceeded it.
Michelle said: “We had a target in mind of £518 and we have smashed that out of the water. We have raised more than £1,000.
“It has been a long day, but everybody has really enjoyed it.”
Speaking about the motivation behind the fundraiser, Michelle said raising awareness was “hugely important”.
She said: “What mine and my brother’s mum went through was a particularly brutal type of cancer that is not very well known about. It really is a silent killer.
“It does not have many side effects and can easily be confused with something innocuous, like a poorly tummy.
“Unfortunately, we did not have any time to deal with it. It all happened so suddenly and I do not want anyone else to go through that.
“The more awareness we can raise, and the more money we can get into the charity to promote awareness and research to improve diagnosis, the better.”
Her brother, Kevin Lovegrove, said their mother became unwell suddenly.
Kevin said: “Mum was feeling sick and could not keep food down. She went to the doctor and they thought it was a stomach bug at first.
“She went into hospital and was sent home again. Within a week she was back in hospital.
“They told us it was cancer. They said it was not curable, but treatable.
“She had a build-up of fluid which bloated her stomach. They drained it, but unfortunately that was not enough and she passed away very suddenly.”
He said the key message from the event was about awareness.
Kevin said: “It is about awareness of the disease. If you have those symptoms, get them checked straight away.
“It is known as a silent killer. There was no mass and no obvious signs. It was in the blood cells, so it was very hard to diagnose.”
Prize winners on the day were Rhiley Matthews, overall winner; Sarah Hutter, women’s winner; and Liam Ellis, junior winner.
