Why I raised £3,509 for Breast Cancer Now in memory of my sister

Back in June we had an idea, my sister had passed away and I suggested an afternoon tea in aid of Breast Cancer Now. As with all good ideas it snowballed, an afternoon tea became a garden party. Friends and family became work colleagues, neighbours and friends of friends. Collection boxes became a raffle, an auction and crafts.

All of this was in memory of my sister. Her story is below. We wanted to do something that would mark her birthday and raise money to help many other families. We have raised in excess of £3.5k. we are overjoyed to be presenting this to Breast Cancer Now.

For 14 years my sister battled cancer. 14 years ago I was called whilst at work, to come down to the hospital immediately. Once there the consultant shared very bleak statistics, she was unlikely to see her son start school.

Although she was on chemo for 14 years, had a double mastectomy, a number of miscarriages, a medical stillbirth, a reconstruction and so much more. She did get to see her son start school, and complete his GCSEs, she also carried a baby whilst on treatment and saw her daughter go to Secondary school. It was a long battle, but without fantastic research, and excellent care we would not have had those 14 years.

Breast Cancer Now is the UK’s first comprehensive breast cancer charity, combining world-class research and life-changing care to build a complete view of breast cancer and make faster progress for everyone affected.Steered by research and powered by care, Breast Cancer Now’s ambition is that, by 2050, everyone who develops breast cancer will live and be supported to live well.

Breast Cancer Now funds around a third of breast cancer research in the UK. By working with almost 340 of the brightest minds in breast cancer research, the charity is helping discover how to prevent more cases, save more lives and enable more women to live well with the disease.

The charity’s award-winning information and services are there to make sure anyone diagnosed with breast cancer can get the support they need to live well with impacts of the disease. Anyone looking for support or information can call Breast Cancer Now’s free Helpline on 0808 800 6000.

Breast cancer is the UK’s most common cancer, with around 55,000 women and 370 men being diagnosed each year. An estimated 600,000 people in the UK are alive after a diagnosis of breast cancer, and one in seven women will develop the disease in their lifetime.

Despite decades of progress in research and care, around 11,500 women and 80 men still die from the disease every year in the UK, with hundreds of thousands more living with the devastating, long-term physical and emotional impacts of the disease.

Breast Cancer Now, the research and care charity, launched in October 2019, created by the merger of specialist support and information charity Breast Cancer Care and leading research charity Breast Cancer Now.For more information on Breast Cancer Now’s work, visit breastcancernow.org or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.