Hope to Connect: Two friends, one world record, 8,265 people touched by cancer

When dating became a minefield

One of the things Emma found hardest after her first diagnosis was not the treatment. It was returning to ordinary life — and, in particular, to dating.

"As soon as I'd say 'I've had cancer, by the way', I'd just get ghosted," she says. "Not even an 'oh, I'm really sorry you've been through that'. I'd just get deleted. There was no conversation."

She was stood up — for the first time in her life — by a man she had told the night before a date. "I attribute that to having cancer," she says. She is not angry at those who pulled away. She understands the fear. "I think people are frightened because they don't know enough about it. When I got diagnosed with cancer, I thought: Who's going to love me now when I've got a death sentence? But it's not always the case with cancer — there are so many various stages."

Eventually, she stopped trying. "I kind of gave up," she says simply.

A Facebook post and a friendship

The idea came from that frustration — and from something broader. "Nobody's cancer journey is the same," Emma explains. "Everyone likes to say, 'I've got a friend you can talk to.' But if their journey is totally different, they can't really relate to what you're going through."

She put a message on Facebook asking whether anyone knew someone who could build an app. A mutual connection — Georgie Jamieson — linked her with Mandeep, a 44-year-old community development professional and app provider, who had her own experience of cancer: not as a patient, but as someone who had watched it take the people she loved.

Many of Mandeep's family members have been taken by cancer. One of her closest friends, Merry, died in 2020 at 38 — being with her as she took her last breath was one of the hardest things to watch. "While Merry went through her cancer journey, if she was in pain, she wouldn't say anything." When Emma spoke openly about her experience on their first Zoom call, the contrast was striking. They had a little cry. They had a laugh. And then they decided to develop an app together.

Hope to Connect was formally established on 28 March 2025.

Building something for 3am

The app is designed to do what no existing platform does: connect people who have or have had cancer — by type, by stage, by location — for friendship, companionship, or even love.

"I would like to talk to somebody right now who's got triple negative breast cancer in Ipswich, perhaps with brain metastases," Emma says. "I don't know anyone who has that."

The gap is real and wide. Support groups exist, but they are not for everyone. Many people — particularly men — will not attend. Others are too ill to leave the house. Others simply need someone at an hour when nobody is available.

"They're looking for that connection where you can talk at three in the morning because you can't sleep," Emma says. "And you can find someone, or they can find someone, going through the same thing."

Beyond connection, the app will eventually carry a bucket list feature and links to vetted wellbeing resources and cancer charities. It is not just friendship and dating — there will also be support in there. The ambition, in time, is global: Mandeep and Emma would like to see a million users.

While the duo have fundraised enough for the wireframe (blueprint) and design phase, they are now fundraising for the main build, pursuing investment and exploring multiple avenues to secure the capital required. The app is structured as a limited company rather than a charity — a deliberate choice to ensure more can be given to the cancer community.

The 'crazy' idea

Around August or September 2025, with the cancer progressing and the app still unfunded, Mandeep had a thought. "We need to do something now — something crazy," she recalls, "that not only raises the income to build the app, but also builds a community aware of the app and supports the cancer community."

That thought: break a Guinness World Record. And what was the record they decided on? The largest human cancer awareness ribbon.

The record currently stands at 8,264 people, set by a Saudi Arabian princess. To break it, they need 8,265.

"The UK has never tried this before," Emma says. "So it's even more special for Suffolk."

The attempt takes place on Saturday, 11 April 2026, at Trinity Park on Felixstowe Road — the final weekend of the Easter holidays. Tickets are on sale now: £9.95 for adults and £4.95 for under-16s. Ticket proceeds will contribute directly to building the app; money raised through a separate JustGiving page will be split between five cancer charities — the Harley James Reynolds Fund, Cancer Support Suffolk, Aoibheann's Pink Tie, Manchester Foundation Trust Charity, and The Swallows Head and Neck Cancer Support Group.

A rainbow of strangers

The ribbon will not be pink. "There are many different cancer awareness colours that represent different cancers," Mandeep explains, "and attendees are encouraged to wear whichever colour represents the person they wish to honour or celebrate." The result, they hope, will be a multicoloured ribbon stretching across a Suffolk field: a living, human record of how widely cancer touches our lives.

The Guinness World Records adjudicator requires all participants to wear a hoodie or poncho of a single colour, so their torso and head are covered. For those keen to walk away with commemorative merchandise, special edition hoodies for the World Record are available to purchase at hopetoconnect.com.

"While you're standing among strangers," Mandeep says, "you're not really — because everyone there has been touched by cancer in some way. Whether that's someone resiliently living through cancer themselves, or supporting, remembering or celebrating a loved one." For those who find the day emotionally difficult, a counsellor will be available on site.

Mandeep and Emma have also arranged a big screen and fan area for the Ipswich Town versus Norwich City match on the same afternoon. "We've sorted the licence," Emma says. "It's all been laid out."

The rest of the day is unambiguously a celebration: bars, food stalls, classic cars, vintage motorbikes, a funfair, nearly 40 craft stalls, live music, a DJ, and Georgie Jamieson as compere alongside Mark Murphy (CEO of Cancer Support Suffolk). Suffolk Sound will broadcast live from the event.

The event runs from 11:00 to 19:00, with the World Record attempt itself starting at 15:00 (everyone ready with their hoodies or ponchos on site by 14:30). Everyone will be invited to receive a free digital participation certificate, or a printed one for £5.

Russian roulette

Emma's next chemotherapy session began last Friday.

"This is the last line of treatment I can have with the cancer I've got," she says. "And it really is Russian roulette. I don't know if that first treatment will put me in a hospice or not — because I could be allergic to it, or my body might not be able to cope with the toxicity. Or I could be okay on it. I could last 18 months."

She had, at one point, decided she would not have any more chemotherapy. Her oncologist told her she would not make Issy's 18th birthday without it. She reconsidered. The medical team have agreed to schedule a break around the April event, giving her the best possible chance of being there.

"They're letting me have a break — chemo, then a week off, and they're not starting again until after the event," she says. "So even if I'm feeling rough, I'll have a little more time to pick up."

Building Hope to Connect has, she says, been the thing that has kept her going. "It's given me purpose. Even though it's all about cancer, it's not about my cancer — it's about helping other people. And I feel like that's rewarded me."

Making Issy's birthday

Issy turns 18 on Saturday, 19 April — eight days after Trinity Park. "Her whole last few years have been all about cancer," Emma says. "She needs that."

Emma is determined to be at both — even if she has to arrive on a mobility scooter. "If I've got to do that, that's what I'm doing," she says. "I'm not spending all day on the sofa."

Beyond the app, Emma's goals for the coming months are kept deliberately small and deliberately precious.

"I don't have massive goals other than the world record event, her birthday and the party," she says. "And then we'll deal with whatever comes."

The bottom line

Hope to Connect does not yet exist as an app. It is a wireframe, a plan, a world-record attempt, and, above all, an act of love: from two women who understand what it is to feel invisible in the middle of a crisis and who refuse to leave others in the same place.

Emma already knows what she wants her legacy to be. Not a user metric. Not a pitch deck. A daughter who had a proper 18th birthday. A community of people who no longer have to feel alone at three in the morning.

Together, Emma and Mandeep want a legacy event — proof, right here in Suffolk, that someone thought of all those touched by cancer.

The record to beat is 8,264. Tickets are available now at hopetoconnect.com. Adults: £9.95. Under-16s: £4.95.

Trinity Park, Ipswich. Saturday, 11 April 2026, 11:00–19:00.

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