One man, one woman and their dog are making strides towards the creation of an inspirational new cancer centre for Oxford.

Miles and Mary Tuely - and their terrier Tynagh - are among the latest people to sign up for Maggie's Ridgeway MegaHike, which will raise money for a £3m Maggie's Cancer Centre at the Churchill Hospital, in Headington.

The MegaHike is now in its third year and sees walkers choose their own challenge to complete within 24 hours; Setting out from Wallingford, bronze hikers trek to Chilton (15 miles), while silver hikers make their way to Wantage (26 miles) and gold hikers (adults only), walk 50 miles to Marlborough.

The Tuelys, who own a smallholding in Wootton, near Woodstock, will walk the full 26 miles. They decided to get involved after Mrs Tuely, 59, was treated for breast cancer in 2005.

She said: "A tiny lump was found by a mobile mammogram unit and I was sent to the Churchill. They confirmed it was cancer and of course it was very frightening, especially as my husband's mother had died of cancer.

"I waited six weeks for an operation and was climbing the walls. No-one could tell me whether it had been growing slowly, or had been galloping along since my last mammogram."

Mrs Tuely's lumpectomy was followed by 13 sessions of radiotherapy and it was during her treatment that she learned about the interim Maggie's Centre at the Churchill.

Like all the centres, this is a calming haven for cancer sufferers and their families, offering information and advice in all aspects of cancer and its treatment.

Mrs Tuely said: "I found the centre a fantastic help and I'm thrilled that a larger centre is to be built here.

"I felt I escaped cancer pretty lightly, compared to a lot of people. I'm currently waiting for a second clear mammogram, but to know this centre would be here to help all those people would be fantastic. Myself, Miles and Tynagh want to do all we can to help make that happen."

The current Oxford Maggie's Centre deals with 5,000 inquiries each year.

The new centre, which could open by 2012, would serve the million people already using the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and its cancer services, and 4,000 people diagnosed with cancer each year.

Similar facilities are already operating in other cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Maggie's community fundraiser Sandy Briscoe said: "A Maggie's Centre is a place anyone affected by cancer can turn to for help. We're open to everyone, not just to people who have been diagnosed with cancer, but also to their families, friends and carers.

"Our programme of support is designed to give people the tools they need to cope with the major upheaval cancer causes in their lives."

The Ridgeway MegaHike takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend of Sunday, May 24, and Monday, May 25. The registration fee for an adult team of four is £150, with a minimum fundraising target of £1,500 per team.

Individual adults pay £50 per person, with a minimum fundraising target of £400. Children (aged 10 to 17) pay £25 per person and are asked to try to raise £100 each. For more information, call 0845 602 6427 or see the website www.maggiescentres.org/megahike The interim Maggie's Centre at the Churchill is open Monday to Friday, from 9.30am to 4pm, for information, psychological and emotional support.

We would like to hear from people taking part in this year's MegaHike. Call Debbie Waite on 01865 425428 or email debbie.waite@oxfordmail.co.uk