Telford cancer centre appeal receives huge donation from longstanding community group
A historic community group dedicated to fundraising for cancer services has donated £10,000 to the Lingen Davies Sunflower Appeal.
Friends and neighbours from in and around Great Bolas and Eaton Upon Tern made the donation after meeting a local patient who had been supported by the work of Lingen Davies Cancer Support.
The funds will go directly towards the charity’s £5million appeal to establish a dedicated cancer centre at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford – doubling chemotherapy capacity across the region.
The Great Bolas and Eaton Upon Tern Cancer Committee was set up after the Second World War to support the work of Cancer Research and has been passed down from family to family through the generations.
Today there are around 14 members who hold annual coffee mornings, dinners, and quiz nights. As new people move into the area they are invited to join, and help continue the legacy of the initial group.
Cathy Thomason moved to Eaton Upon Tern 28 years ago and was asked to join the committee she now chairs.
She said: “We’re always trying to encourage local people to join our committee, it’s a real community affair and we want to encourage the young to get involved.
“Over the last two years we had raised a substantial sum through regular coffee mornings, dinners, quizzes, gin tasting. If we’re ever offered a marque to use it’s a great chance to put on a fabulous evening of entertainment.
“We met with a lady called Di Rohan who has sadly now passed away, Di had stage four breast cancer. She’d been to previous events that we held and was such a lovely, positive person. We were inspired to donate to Lingen Davies’ Sunflower Appeal because of the various projects Di had accessed, particularly at Fordhall Farm.
“This £10,000 comes from two years of hard work and we look forward to working with Lingen Davies and Fordall Farm in the future to put good use to more of our savings,” she added.
Jane Watson Jones is the treasurer and said the committee that had always supported Cancer Research made the decision to support more local causes in recent years.
She said: “We decided we wanted to choose where our fundraising and our money was spent. We try our hardest to raise money and have fun at the same time. We’re looking at other projects we can support as well.”
Claire Purcell, Head of Community Fundraising for Lingen Davies, said a big thank you to the group.
She said: “It’s a pleasure to hear that this money is being given as a direct result of our work in the community to support patients living with and beyond cancer. Thank you to everyone who has supported the Great Bolas and Eaton Upon Tern Cancer Committee – the group has now become founders of our Sunflower Appeal which will see a dedicated Lingen Davies Cancer Centre opening at Princess Royal Hospital in 2029.”
For more information about the work of the charity, how to support the appeal, and what is available for patients in the community visit the website www.lingendavies.co.uk
