‘Selfless’ mum-of-five from Northampton described as ‘life and soul of the party’ loses battle with cancer aged 35

A mum-of-five described as ‘selfless’ and the ‘life and soul of the party’ has lost her battle with cancer at the age of just 35.

Hollie Jobber from Goldings was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.

The social worker underwent treatment and entered remission in 2018, however the disease came back and Hollie was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer last year, which then spread to her brain.

On October 28, 2020 she passed away leaving behind her partner Gavin and her five children, the youngest of whom is five.

Close friends have now paid tribute to the ‘beautiful’ mum and have also set up a fundraiser to help support her family.In a joint tribute from Hollie’s close friends of 26 years Becky Thompson, Clare Morris-McCarthy, Katie Bland and Natalie Shilcock remember her as the ‘zing in our friendship’.

The group all went to school together firstly at Goldings Middle School and then at Weston Favell secondary.

The tribute says: “We formed a very close friendship group at school of which Hollie was an integral part of. We have remained very close since.

“Hollie had so much going on in her life with five children, fighting for women’s rights, volunteering for the women’s shelter, running freedom programmes for domestic violence victims, working as a social worker and fighting cancer, but she always had time for her friends when we needed her and came to all our social gatherings.

“She was the zing in our friendship group and we have memories that will last a lifetime.

“We always said we would all go into a care home together in old age, but we are sad beyond belief she’ll now remain 35 years old.

“She lived life to the absolute fullest, and she was strong minded and encouraged us all to live by our convictions and stand up for what is right. That will live on in us and her children.”

Hollie studied social work at the University of Northampton and continued to work in child protection at Leicester City Council until just a few weeks before she passed away.

Leanda Cank, who worked with Hollie, said: “She was one of those people who everyone just warmed to. She had such a big heart.

“I can’t explain in words how amazing she was.

“She would go above and beyond to give her time and energy and she was always trying to protect people, even right until the end as she would never let on how poorly she really was.

“Hollie never gave up and she wanted to carry on working with the young people as well as bringing up her children.

“She is such a big loss to social work. She turned lives around and she prevented so many people entering the care system.

“I’ve had teenagers down the phone in tears because she had done so much for them.

“She was selfless. Everybody and everything came before her and she always saw the positives in people.”

As well as her work and bringing up her children, Hollie ‘absolutely loved’ adult music weekends at Butlins, which is when Leanda says she was the ‘life and soul of the party’.

Even until just a few weeks before she died, Hollie still made time to see her friends and enjoy her life.

The tribute from her childhood friends continues: “Hollie fought cancer until the very end and did as much as she could to make memories with her kids in the last year of her life.

“She pushed herself to continue living life while she could. It was just six weeks ago we were out drinking cocktails for one of our birthday celebrations.

“Hollie was desperate to come home from the hospice to have people around her in her last days of life as Covid prevented visits.

“Whilst a package was being put in place, unfortunately time ran out and she died.

“Our last time seeing her was the week before when we went over to sit on her bed and chat and laugh and just be normal, as that’s what she asked from us.”

During a difficult time for Hollie’s family, her friends and colleagues have set up a fundraising page to help cover the costs of the funeral and offer some ‘comfort and financial support’ to her loved ones.

To donate to the fundraiser set up by friends, visit the JustGiving page here.

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