Scott Brown has compressed a lifetime of grit, sport and purpose into a story that doesn't fit neatly on a highlights reel. In episode five of the Make It Happen podcast, host Daniel Herman sat down with the founder of Battle Cancer — an international fundraising fitness event that has raised over £12.6 million for 42 different charities — to unpack how he got there.
It starts somewhere most people wouldn't choose to begin.
Sport as a Lifeline
Before Battle Cancer, before the powerlifting championships, before 13 years serving as a detective in the police force, there was a kid using sport to survive. Scott left home between the ages of 16 and 17, went through a period of homelessness, and leaned hard into rugby, football, and eventually combat sports — Thai boxing and MMA — as both structure and escape.
"Sport and fitness were always the thing that kept me on a really good path," Scott told Daniel. "Where maybe other traditional support networks weren't really there."
The pivot from competitive sport to training came when work demands multiplied. He took on two or three jobs simultaneously, cleaned gyms in exchange for coaching, and gradually found his way into powerlifting — becoming a multiple national and international champion across weight categories. All of this while working in the police.
The Spark Behind Battle Cancer
Cancer had been a presence in Scott's life long before Battle Cancer existed. His non-biological grandfather — described as a rare positive force in a difficult upbringing — died quickly from cancer when Scott was young. Later, through an ex-partner, he saw Macmillan Cancer Support provide meaningful care to two generations of the same family. He started fundraising for them quietly, constrained by the fact that police work at his level meant he couldn't maintain a public profile.
The breakthrough idea was collective action: if you can't raise a million yourself, gather a thousand people and ask each of them to raise a few hundred. But the second insight — the one that made Battle Cancer genuinely different — was how to make the event itself inclusive.
"Back in 2017, fitness events were very much CrossFit," Scott explained. "You were either an elite athlete or a scaled person. There was nothing that everybody could do together." Battle Cancer changed the model: make the workout effort-based, and fold fundraising directly into the score. However much you raise gets added to your competitive result. That was the separator.
The first event generated around £30,000. They now run 15 events globally. Their Dublin event recently sold out with 4,000 athletes and drew the Prime Minister. A single event has crossed the $1 million fundraising mark.
The Stories That Actually Matter
The numbers are significant, but Scott is candid that the interpersonal impact hits harder. He described an email that had come through to the team on the morning of recording — from charity DKMS, confirming that a stem cell donor registered at a Battle Cancer event last year had been successfully matched and had saved a life. A small thing built into athlete registration. A direct outcome.
Then there are the mental health stories. Young people who recover from cancer and then find themselves unable to reclaim their identity — no longer seen as athletes, only as patients. One man in Ireland, Scott said, credited a Battle Cancer event with giving him back his sense of self at a point where he'd been considering ending his life. He went on to become a coach and a motivational speaker.
"When you put people together," Scott said, "they do the wonderful work."
The Post-Cancer Programme
In 2020, Battle Cancer launched a 12-week funded post-cancer rehabilitation programme. To date, over 2,000 people have gone through it. Gyms can apply for funding to host two classes a week over the full 12 weeks. Coaches who want to run their own version can access an online qualification — available in multiple languages — covering cancer biology and exercise adaptation.
The programme is increasingly working alongside GP referral networks and post-cancer centres in the UK. Scott's longer-term ambition is blunt: "You can get a prescription for painkillers. Why can't you get a prescription for post-cancer rehabilitation in person?"
Where It Goes Next
Battle Cancer isn't chasing VC funding or trying to become Hyrox. The goal is sustainable growth in existing markets before expanding further — with the knowledge that even at 15 events, they're at less than 10% of the scale Hyrox has reached. The maths on what that means for fundraising potential is not lost on Scott.
His closing message to listeners was as direct as everything else he said: check early. Don't wait until cancer is the only thing you can think about. The difference between a stage one and a stage three diagnosis can be months. Months that change everything.
And for those in fitness — whether as a business or a personal practice — think about what it could give back.
"Fitness gave a lot to me personally," he said. "So I want to see how I can use fitness to pass that on to other people."
Find out more about Battle Cancer and the post-cancer programme at battlecancer.co.uk listen to the full interview https://open.spotify.com/episode/0dwFUYPFc7OokKBdxECDM8?si=H9eOtQIaRVqpBEi5hQwGVA
