Westbury metal detectorist raises nearly £500k for cancer charities

A man whose father died from melanoma has raised nearly £500,000 for cancer charities through metal detecting.

Gary Cook, 54, first aimed to raise a "few hundred pounds for charity" in dad Rodney's name.

But his metal detecting group has proved so popular it has attracted thousands of people from all over the world.

Mr Cook said: "I always call us the Glastonbury festival of metal detecting because that's exactly what it is."

Tickets to their events have been known to sell out in five hours.

Rodney Cook was given just three months to live when he was diagnosed with melanoma, an aggressive cancer of the skin.

Gary, from Westbury, Wiltshire, said: "My dad being my dad, fought it for nearly four years," during which time he received immunotherapy through the NHS.

Mr Cook said after his father's death aged 73, in 2017, he "wanted to do something to help or to at least give something back to the amazing people within the Royal United Hospital Bath (RUH) [where he was treated] and the NHS".

"They make you feel safe, and they look after you... they really are caring people under the most amount of huge amount of stress every day..," he added.

He and some friends formed the group Rodney Cook Memorial (RCM) and held metal detector events to support cancer charities.

Initially they organised a detecting day and raised more than £1,000.

After agreeing to do more, they held a weekend camp where people could come and do some detecting in South Cerney, Gloucestershire.

The weekend fell almost a year to the day when Rodney died, raising £26,500.

Mr Cook said people at the charity almost "spit their coffee out" when they heard the final amount raised.

Now they run three events each year, attracting thousands with people "coming from as far away as Australia, Canada, USA. Turkey, France, and all big manufacturers of metal," Mr Cook said.

They are all organised by Mr Cook and his detectorist friends, with the team gradually growing over the years.

After covering costs, all the money raised goes directly to charity.

Mr Cook said the response they have had has been "amazing… we're very proud of what we've achieved".

"We can't quite sometimes believe how far we've come, because none of us have any experience at all in organising this sort of event," he added.

"We put tickets up for sale in February, I believe, for this year and we sold out within five hours."

However, he said the most important thing to him was "being told by RUH staff at this year's event that the money we raise saves lives. It literally saves lives".

"That was something that I always wanted with my event. I wanted to help other people not to have to go through what I went through.

"If I could stop one person from passing away from cancer, or stop one family from having to go through the pain and watching a loved one that you care so much about slowly almost fade into nothing then it would have all been worth it," he added.

Mr Cook and his friends at the RCM are presenting the Royal United Hospital (RUH) Bath with a cheque for £56,000 on Friday.

Mr Cook said: "My father was an amazing man and someone who just lit up a room.

"We opened the batting together in the local cricket team where I live, and we played football together.

"We were close friends as well as father and son.. we would come home drunk together and got told off by mum, you know…he was an amazing chap."

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