Oh my what a fantastic time we had at Horse of the Year Show! I’m still brushing hay out of my mane from all the excitement! But this wasn’t just any day at HOYS... no, this was a very special Willberry’s Wish, and I was over the moon to welcome the wonderful Tegan and her amazing mum, Donna, for a weekend full of magic, ponies, and proper chocolate brownies!

Now, let me tell you a little something about Tegan. She’s faced more than her fair share of hurdles in life — diagnosed with leukaemia at just 3 years old and enduring 17 long years of treatment since. But she’s the kind of person that makes your heart do a little skip — strong, smiley, and totally inspiring. The kind of human Hannah would’ve loved.

Their journey up from Cornwall was a bit of an adventure in itself. Poor Tegan and Donna’s train was delayed, and they didn’t make it to Birmingham until after 6pm! Thankfully, a kind-hearted taxi driver whisked them the last stretch to the NEC and even refused to take a fare (humans can be so lovely sometimes, can’t they?).

When I trotted over to meet Tegan and Donna for the very first time, I was already feeling a bit excited. Every Wish we grant comes with a very special surprise — a Berry pony of their very own — and I was over the moon to discover that Tegan had already named hers Aliceberry, after the wonderful horse she used to ride at her RDA group.

As soon as I met Aliceberry, all smart and snuggled into Tegan’s arms, I knew we were going to be the best of friends. My heart was full to the brim. That’s the magic of a Wish: a little sparkle, a lot of love, and a pony friend by your side, no matter what.

That evening, they had a nice dinner at The Moxy, and then it was off to bed to rest up for a day full of horsey adventures!

Saturday at HOYS had arrived!

The next morning, we kicked things off with some shopping in the enormous hall of horsey delights. Tegan was on a mission for the perfect pair of gloves to help with her wheelchair — and she found just the right ones!

After lunch, we met at the hotel and made our way to the main arena. Some very kind NEC staff whisked us past the crowds to the Press Centre, where we met Debra of Grandstand Media  — she introduced us to the lovely Sarah, our guide for the afternoon. And let me tell you, Sarah knew all the behind-the-scenes secrets...

First stop: the international stables. Imagine the fanciest, sparkliest pony hotels, with enormous horseboxes parked tighter than bales in a haystack. We saw show ponies, massive Clydesdales, dazzling jumpers — every shape and size!

Then, we trotted over to the Pony Club stables, where the six top teams for the Prince Philip Cup were based. Everything was spotless — parents had transformed their little corners into pony palaces, and there were daily inspections for the best-kept stable.

Tegan had a very special moment here too — we visited Wylye Valley, the team closest to Hannah’s heart, and the girls (Bonnie, Ellie, Esme, Evie, and Phoebe) gave her the warmest tour of their ponies and kit. Then we popped by the Staff College & Sandhurst team for another look at the fabulous ponies competing in the games.

   

All that excitement called for a break, so off we went to the Wylye camp kitchen for a well-earned hot chocolate, well "warm" chocolate, with lots of marshmallows and cream. And guess what? Hannah’s famous chocolate brownies were on offer too. Naturally, I helped myself to one... or two.

After some rest and refreshments, Sarah took us to meet the amazing scurry ponies and their lovely human, Alison. This part was extra special, because Tegan has taken up carriage driving at the RDA since she stopped riding. We learned all about the speedy ponies (big and small), and Tegan fell head over wheels for a gorgeous pony called Buzz!

Next we visited the phenomenal UK Vaulting Team who had been wowing the crowds all week with their amazing precision and athleticism.  And we even had the chance to see some of the heavy horses too.

Finally, we trotted by the magnificent heavy horses before heading back to the hotel. Tegan’s wheels got a bit muddy on the way — not every stable is as clean as the Pony Club’s — so we had our work cut out trying to clean the wheels on the grass on the way back!

 Saturday Night – The Puissance

That evening, Tegan and Donna headed into the Andrews Bowen International Arena to watch the main event. The crowd was electric! They saw the scurry final, the astonishing Puissance with the joint winners jumping over 7ft!  and the penultimate round of the Prince Philip Cup. Of course, I nearly lost my voice cheering for Wylye Valley — and they won! I was practically galloping in the stands!

After another cosy night at The Moxy, Tegan and Donna caught their train back to Cornwall. I was a little sad to wave my new friends goodbye, but my heart was bursting. This is what Willberry’s Wishes are all about — sharing moments of joy, magic, and connection, just like Hannah dreamed.

A HUGE thank you to Debra, and Sarah from Grandstand Media and to all those in the NEC, who helped make everything run so smoothly.

And Tegan — good luck with your upcoming hip operations. I’ll be sending you all my Berry wishes and can’t wait to see you back with your RDA friends, reins in hand and dreams in your heart 💕

Bottom of Form

Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity and Queen Mary University of London are pleased to announce a new PhD studentship to investigate how to prevent chemotherapy resistance from building up in osteosarcoma patients. Georgina Wherry has been selected to lead this exciting new research project.

The project will be supervised by Dr Stefaan Verbruggen at Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with Dr Lucia Cottone, Bone Cancer Research Trust (BCRT) Early Career Fellow at the UCL Cancer Institute, and Dr Fiona Freeman at University College Dublin.

Dr Lucia Cottone, Georgina Wherry & Dr Stefaan Verbruggen 

Osteosarcoma is a rare cancer of bone tissue that primarily affects children and young adults. The disease is so rare that clinical trials for new treatments are difficult to carry out, and the most fatal challenge for patients occurs when the cancer becomes resistant to chemotherapy. Long term survival prospects are depressingly poor and innovative treatments are desperately needed.

Georgina's project will use the latest organ-on-a-chip technology to develop new drug testing platforms to accelerate the search for new treatments and reduce the side-effects experienced by patients.

Georgina is currently employed at UCL on a BCRT-funded osteosarcoma project, having previously worked as a Scientist for Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust. She studied Biomedical Science and Immunology at Kings College London and Birmingham University.

Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity was founded by inspirational horse rider, Hannah Francis. Hannah was diagnosed with osteosarcoma when just 17 years old and she established her charity in March 2016 to fund research into bone cancers and to grant equestrian-related experiences to seriously ill people and their families (Willberry’s Wishes). She named her charity after a soft toy called Willberry The Wonder Pony and used Willberry’s voice to tell her compelling and moving story on Instagram. Hannah tragically passed away in August 2016 but her memory and legacy lives on through her charity which is funding a number of research projects into osteosarcoma and granting many Willberry’s Wishes.

Hannah competing on her amazing mare, 'Mavis'

Georgina Wherry said,

“I’m thrilled to have been offered this PhD studentship generously funded by Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity. I’m looking forward to building on my current research by developing new, patient-near models of osteosarcoma to be used in the lab to study reasons why some patients don’t respond well to chemotherapy. I’m excited to learn from my diverse supervisory team based between Queen Mary, UCL and University College Dublin, combining expertise in osteosarcoma biology and tissue engineering, and hope to contribute novel insights and progress research into osteosarcoma.”

Dr Stefaan Verbruggen comments,

“Georgina's PhD project brings together experts in cancer biology and bioengineering and is an exciting opportunity to make major advances in treating this disease. Bone cancer is a devastating disease for young patients, and this work will hopefully have a real impact on their lives.”

Rachel Francis, Hannah’s mother, added,

“We’re delighted to be continuing Hannah’s mission to improve outcomes for young    people suffering from this hideous disease. The options for Hannah’s treatment were extremely limited and offered little hope, but being Hannah she was determined to ensure the future for others was brighter. This latest project follows a number of others already funded by her charity and more will follow thanks to the incredible support from so many.”

Please take a few moments to look at our projects to date.

Thank you for your continued support and generosity.

   CURRENT PROJECTS

         COMPLETED PROJECTS

Let's keep #kickingcancersbutt

For an Inspirational Young Eventer

The Hannah Francis Award was set up in 2016 to recognise and honour the inspirational person that Hannah was. Hannah's courage in personal adversity astounds us all, she was led by her dreams not her fears.  

In 2015, Hannah Francis was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 17. Osteosarcoma is a rare form of bone cancer which typically affects children and young adults. Her diagnosis was terminal. Despite this horrific news, Hannah fought her illness with extraordinary courage and dignity, enduring months of appalling side effects from her treatment, as well as constant pain. Hannah an accomplished and talented horse rider who was destined for international recognition. Horses were Hannah’s life and she wanted to continue to ride and fulfil her bucket list. She wrote to many in the equestrian world who she visited and quite often got to ride their elite rides. Despite being in constant, excruciating pain and no longer able to walk, Hannah continued riding until the very end, even being invited to ride in Great Britain colours which was the proudest of moments.  

Hannah was given a soft toy horse called Willberry The Wonder Pony shortly after her diagnosis. Hannah started to tell her arduous and deeply moving story through social media, using Willberry as her voice. Many began following her Instagram and Facebook pages and soon tens of thousands of people became aware of Hannah’s journey, from diagnosis through to the archaic and hopeless treatment regime she was forced to endure.  Her memory and selflessness continues with the positive legacy she set up, Hannah's Willberry Wonder Pony Charity, which funds research into bone caner, particularly osteosarcoma and 'Willberry's Wishes', granting equine related wishes to seriously ill people.

Emma had been following Hannah’s journey on social media when an eventing friend contacted her to ask if she could think of anyone who would be able to set up an award for Hannah as she was so inspiring and doing so much for others and raising awareness. Emma couldn't think of anyone to approach to set up an award so decided to do it herself. She contacted an amazing local artist Amy Goodman, whose work she had seen displayed at Wellington Horse Trials. Amy had also been following Hannah’s journey and very kindly gave her services free of charge to create the most beautiful bronze of Hannah and her horse 'Mavis' jumping over a fence. Once Amy had created what was going to be the bronze out of clay it had to be cast, which required funding, Emma approached 10 companies who were keen to support the award and covered the cost of the bronze. Once finished, the bronze travelled to different events so that it could be seen by fellow eventers and supporters. 

Devastatingly Hannah never got to see the finished bronze. Amy met her with a model of it to discuss exactly how she would like it be finished just a few days before Hannah passed away.

When the competition was first opened unsurprisingly a huge number of entries were for Hannah and it was awarded to her posthumously. 

2017 HANNAH LOUISE FRANCIS

2018 EMILY MUSTOW

2019 CLAIRE DREY-BROWN

2022 FIONA HOWARD

2023 FINLAY SCOTT

2024 HOLLY DENEGRI

2025 GRACE SMITH (Binky)

Thank you for all your applications for The Hannah Francis Award.  Willberry has been very moved by the applicants this year.

We wanted to provide a quick update on progress within Hannah’s Charity.

#inspiredByHannah

Our levels of activity with both our core activities, namely granting Willberry’s Wishes and funding scientific research, have increased over the past couple of years, with over 95 Wishes now granted and the number of projects funded by us shortly reaching double figures.  This is all really positive news, but it continues to take a huge effort from all our volunteers and  our Trustees.

With this in mind, we want to share some really positive news.  Hannah’s chose the Trustees she wanted to lead her charity and these all remain today, including Hannah’s parents (Rachel and James) and her grandma (June), together with Ian Peters and Miles Toulson-Clarke.  However, the increased activity referenced above means that we now feel is the time to broaden our Trustee group, not simply to create more resource but specifically to add critical skills we feel the Charity would benefit from.  We’re pleased to confirm the following Trustee appointments:

Dr Alice Goring  Alice was a close friend of Hannah and also helped her find her miniature Shetland, Doris!  Alice is a senior molecular scientist and completed her PhD at Southampton University.  Whilst studying there, she introduced us to her supervisor, Dr laire Clarkin, who has been the Chair of our Scientific Panel for the past few years.  In her capacity as Trustee, Alice will provide vital knowledge of the scientific community and will help guide us with our research activities.

Matt Clark  Matt is Operations Director of Old Mill, an accountancy and financial advisory practice.  Matt is also a survivor of osteosarcoma, which he was diagnosed with at 18 years of age, and told us about his remarkable journey of recovery when we first met him.  Matt then set himself the hugely onerous task of cycling over 1,000 miles to all the major eventing venues with his Travelling Willberrys, raising not just a remarkable amount of money for the Charity (over £14,000) but also increasing awareness of this hideous disease.  Matt will contribute not only his business experience to the Charity but, crucially, a patient perspective to add to all of Hannah’s extraordinarily powerful testimony that drives us each and every day.

In addition to these Trustee appointments, we’re overjoyed to let you know that Rachel, Hannah's mum, is now planning to dedicate her time to the running of the Charity and is assuming the role of General Manager.  Rachel is the heartbeat of the Charity, co-ordinating all aspects of what we do in Hannah’s memory and will now be able to dedicate even more energy to driving us all forwards!  We simply can’t think of a worthier person to do this and know that Hannah will be smiling.

Thank you for your continued support, we are so grateful.  We feel extremely proud of Hannah's charity and know that she would be thrilled that we continue to help so many people and and continuing her legacy in #kickingcancersbutt

Best wishes from us all x