When cancer survivor Joyce Rothschild started her annual fundraising quiz 25 years ago, she had no idea if she would make it past 40. Now aged 65, she has raised more than £200,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The yearly tradition was prompted by a setback which Ms Rothschild encountered in her treatment. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, doctors needed to assess whether the disease had spread to her lymph nodes.

There was a device that could tell them in seconds, but the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham didn’t have one. 

“I thought, well, this is ridiculous,” recalled the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue member. “So I decided to raise some money for the hospital so they could buy this piece of equipment.”

Her first quiz was supported mostly by friends and family. But as participation snowballed, it was suggested that she support a national charity and she switched her focus to Macmillan in year three. 

Ms Rothschild asks quizzers to pay a £2 entry fee, although higher donations are attracted on an associated JustGiving site. Players include many families and groups of friends. 

Each quiz features 100 questions and there is an annual theme — for this year, it was words ending in a vowel. The latest version generated a record sum of £22,459.

With quizzes having blossomed in popularity during the pandemic, Ms Rothschild is unsurprised by their enduring appeal. “It just shows that it’s a lovely thing to do,” she said.

Her two adult sons have gone into medicine, one working in radiology, the other a paediatrician. She has three grandchildren, including a granddaughter she has yet to meet because of the pandemic. 

“It’s lovely to be alive because when you have cancer, you don’t know how long you’ve got,” she added. 

“Being around and seeing grandchildren is just an absolute joy.”