Founder and CEO of Edinburgh-based The House of Hope, Lisa Fleming and her teenage son Cameron, took on the ultimate fundraising challenge with a 100ft abseil down the Port of Leith Distillery, to raise money for The House of Hope, Scotland’s first dedicated support and wellbeing centre for people impacted by breast cancer and their families.
Lisa, who lives with secondary breast cancer, was joined by a team of ten superheroes and supporters from The House of Hope, to go above, beyond and over the edge to collectively raise a massive £8,500.
All funds raised will go directly towards delivering wellbeing and holistic services and support at the House of Hope, based on Gorgie Road, which opened its doors to the local community in June 2025.
A truly remarkable achievement for Lisa, who when she was first diagnosed, discovered that cancer had already spread from the breast to every bone in her body and she has gone through 19 operations including brain and spine surgery.
Lisa said: “I think I’m still in a bit of disbelief. If you’d have told the girl who sat in the Western General oncology unit, with her life in bits almost nine years ago, that she would still be alive, let alone completed a challenge like that I would never have believed you.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their generosity and all of the hard work that went into making the event happen. For me the hero of the day was my son, Cammy.
“We were up first, together and I will never forget the look of fear in his eyes, but he showed absolute resilience and bravely fought through it and absolutely smashed it! I’m so proud of him and what we’ve achieved together.”
The House of Hope was borne out of Lisa’s vision to create wellbeing and holistic support provision, within her hometown of Edinburgh and she remains dedicated to providing a safe haven for people impacted by breast cancer to access vital services outside of a clinical setting.
The House of Hope celebrates its first anniversary in June 2026 and has delivered support to over 200 people and their families impacted by breast cancer.
To mark the anniversary, a 1k Your Way challenge has been launched to encourage supporters to do 1k every day for 30 days in June any way they like – whether that’s running, walking, cycling or even rowing, whatever gets it done! – to raise money to support people impacted by breast cancer.
