The event will be hosted by several of Sarah's caching friends Lizzzzeeeee, Ash's Cachers, Explorer Olway and Esscafe's wife of 8 weeks Dippy 1 (another Sarah Jane!).
Update 28 Oct 15 - we are submitting four new caches for publication in Staunton Park, going live on the morning of Sunday 1st November.
Sarah started caching way back in early 2003, having got the idea from the BBC’s Inside Out programme. She was one of the first people in the UK to find 1000 caches, celebrating with an event at the Inside Out cache at Kingley Vale in West Sussex.
Sadly Sarah was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2009 but it’s no exaggeration to say that caching saved her and gradually during treatment she started venturing out to find more and more caches. During that year she managed to find over 3500 caches, putting her into the UK Top Ten and leading to the start of her domination of the leaderboard.
From 2010 until 2013 she was happily in remission and upped her finds from around 150 caches per week to regularly clocking up around 400 a week in her quest for the UK’s Number 1 position, held by Dr Solly. She travelled the UK in her distinctive Geobus and finally, in Spring 2013, she achieved the number 1 position, an amazing feat for a lone female cacher.
Having achieved #1 she decided to (semi) retire from caching and move to South Wales, a country she had very quickly fallen in love with. The move went through early in 2014 but sadly that was also when she discovered that her cancer had come back and spread. On a happier note, during the first few months in Wales she met and fell in love with another Sarah Jane and they married on 31st July this year. They held a celebration of their marriage in their garden in Pontsticill on a beautifully sunny Sunday early in September, surrounded by friends and (never one to do things by halves) a Welsh Male Voice Choir and the principal Harpist from the Welsh National Opera.
Sarah left very clear instructions for after her death and her ashes will be sprinkled at a later date on Pen-y-Fan, very close to her home near Merthyr Tydfil.
We hope her many friends from the caching community will be able to join us for this celebration of life in Hampshire. Of course anyone who knew Sarah and anyone who just loves caching is also most welcome :)