A KEEN golfer has doffed her cap and put down her clubs in order to complete 20 challenges in 12 months in memory of a close friend.

Cathy Seed, Lady Captain at Wilpshire Golf Club, lost close friend Neil Fearnley to a brain tumour in 2016, just six months after his diagnosis.

To honour his memory, the retired physiotherapist, from Samlesbury, decided to complete 20 unique challenges throughout 2020 to raise money for charity Brain Tumour Research.

The challenges include walking 20,000 steps on the 20th day of each month, growing 20 tomatoes, reading 20 books and going on 20 20-mile bike rides.

Mrs Seed said: “Neil was married to my best friend, Elizabeth, and he and my husband had been friends since the age of five. Neil and his business partner Steve ran their own engineering company and Neil was a keen motor racing driver.

“Losing him just six months after he was diagnosed came as a huge shock to all his family and friends.”

Mr Fearnley was 56 when he was diagnosed with a high-grade brain tumour, with the news coming just three weeks after he and his wife became grandparents for the first time.

He received radiotherapy to treat the disease but because of the location of the tumour, surgery wasn’t an option.

Mrs Seed said: “It’s so tragic that his time as a grandad was cut short but having the new addition in the family has been a lifeline for Liz, as she still struggles to come to terms with her loss.”

Keen to do something positive in her friend’s memory, Mrs Seed originally set out to play 20 rounds of golf in 20 days during 2020, taking in as many different courses as possible and scoring as many points as she could.

She set a fundraising target of £2,020 and encouraged people to make a donation to guess how many points she would score in total. After Christmas, she decided to set her sights higher, and came up with the idea of completing 20 challenges in 2020.

She said: “I now have a list of 20 pledges, which I am gradually working my way through.

“They include baking 20 cakes for charity, doing 20 walks in the Lake District and losing 20lbs in weight.

“I’ve set the bar high but I’m determined to make the most of my year as Lady Captain and to raise as much money and awareness as possible.”

Mrs Seed also started knitting 56 woolly hats, each representing a year of Mr Fearnley’s life. The hats will be sold at a coffee morning on March 27, when she will be joining thousands of others taking part in Brain Tumour Research’s Wear a Hat Day.

The charity’s community fundraising manager for the North of England, Matthew Price, said: “We were so sorry to learn that Cathy lost her dear friend Neil to this awful disease and we couldn’t be more grateful to her for committing to a whole year of fundraising for Brain Tumour Research.

“Cathy’s programme of events and challenges is really creative and varied and requires a great deal of planning and effort. We hope people will dig deep to show their support and encouragement.”

A full list of her fundraising challenges can be found on her JustGiving Page.

To donate and track her progress visit justgiving.com/fundraising/CathySeed20in20Challenge