Luton rail worker gets in the ring to fight cancer

Karen “Well’ard” Weller, 29, from Stopsley, Luton, who works as a Support Coordinator for Govia Thameslink Railway at King’s Cross station, took to the ring in an Ultra White Collar Boxing event at the Luton Auction House recently, raising over £315 for Cancer Research UK.

Karen said: “In July I attended an Ultra White Collar Boxing event to support a friend. Having taken part in numerous running events for cancer research and cystic fibrosis, this appealed to me as it was a totally new challenge.

“Having trained for only eight weeks, I was matched up with my opponent and took to the ring. There were threetwo-minute rounds. I lost the first round, but managed to bring it back and the fight ended a draw.

“It was a lot tougher than I imagined and very overwhelming, but it is one of the best things I have done and I was proud of my result. I think win, lose or draw we can all be proud of the fact that together we raised a lot of money for Cancer Research UK. I’m definitely tempted to participate again, although my next challenge will be the half marathon.”

To learn more about Karen’s story and to donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/Karen-Weller3/

To find out more about Ultra White Collar Boxing visit: https://www.ultrawhitecollarboxing.co.uk/?gclid=CK3TxsnA1sgCFQVuGwod5gkNSA

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Notes to editors

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) began running Thameslink (Bedford to Brighton, Sutton and Wimbledon) and Great Northern (London to Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn) rail services on 14 September 2014. A small number of services and stations previously operated by Southeastern transferred to GTR in December 2014 and on 26 July 2015 the Southern and Gatwick Express routes were incorporated into the franchise. GTR is now the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR carries about 273 million passenger journeys per year, employs around 6,500 people and generates annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn. www.thameslinkrailway.com