A TENNIS coach who won his fight against cancer game, set and match aims to raise £20,000 for two charities by hosting an event starring a Wimbledon champion and Davis Cup players.

Barry Fulcher, from Brighton, will mark his personal milestones of ten years since since his first brush with cancer and five after being given the all-clear with a tennis-based charity fundraiser called British Tennis vs The Big C.

He aims to raise £20,000 for the Cancer Research UK and the Sussex Cancer Fund at the event at Preston Lawn Tennis Club, Brighton, where he coaches, featuring GB Davis Cup stars, a Wimbledon champion and other former and current British tennis pros.

Barry, who is also GB Men’s 35+ team captain, was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, four weeks after getting married, and underwent surgery to remove a tumour on his 28th birthday.

Although his prognosis was good, the tumour was malignant and it had begun to spread, and he was put on a course of chemotherapy.

He woke up from initial surgery with a paralysed shoulder and was told he would never be able to play tennis again.

He began coaching again to try to rehabilitate his shoulder and in 2009 took over captaincy of his lifelong county team, Norfolk Men’s Tennis. Barry played in 11 out of 15 matches and took the team to promotion. Less than a year after treatment and still suffering a partially paralysed shoulder, he won a professional doubles title with Norfolk team mate Richard Bloomfield, beating Davis Cup winner Dom “The Bomb” Ingot in the final.

Barry, who celebrated the births of his daughters Isla and Marnie since his diagnosis, said: “I consider myself a cancer survivor, one of the fortunate ones who fought and overcame The Big C.

“For me, there was light at the end of the tunnel, a way out. For far too many, there isn’t. The people I encountered brought me strength.”

His charity fundraising event tomorrow forms part of the second annual week-long UTR (Universal Tennis Ranking) tournament at the tennis club and will also have sports-related auction prizes including a Davis Cup package for GB’s next tie in Glasgow, a Director’s Box experience at Old Trafford and a chance to play on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon.

Visit Barry’s JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/barry-fulcher-britishtennisvsthebigc.