This fundraiser is in honour of Darcy Coomber, who passed away on 27th January 2021, at just 20 years old. She passed in her university home, suddenly but peacefully. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour, which she nicknamed Ed, 20 months ago. Despite such a devastating diagnosis Darcy never let Ed hold her back and continued her studies of Politics at the University of Southampton.

A large part of her university life was being a member of Monte netball team. She was the life and soul of the party (especially when prosecco was involved) and was one of the teams most dedicated players, never missing a match. She was elected our club president 2020-2021, a position she was very proud of. Darcy’s death has been a massive shock to the whole team so in her honour we are raising money through a walking challenge.

The netball team wants to carry Darcy's name forward by raising money for a charity which helps asylum seekers and refugees. Darcy centred her dissertation on this topic and wanted to bring awareness to the issue of how the media reported on migrants. After graduating she aspired to work for a charity that helped migrants. Sadly, she never had the opportunity to help those in need, which is why we have chosen to raise money for The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). They campaign for change in the areas Darcy was most passionate about. They work to change the media narrative around people who move, as well as working closely with politicians to secure changes to discriminatory immigration policies, creating the change Darcy was keen to be part of.

In Darcy’s honour we should live every day to its full and her parents are very clear there are 4 words they want us to remember; ‘Do it for Darcy’. So, Monte netball team are ‘Doing it for Darcy’. Darcy would be proud to see us all come together as a team to support a cause she cared so much about. She loved Monte and we all love her too.
Charlotte Monks