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Holly Brown raised £415 from 11 supporters
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Closed 05/03/2019
Iʼve raised £415 to help relieve self-employed artist Gillian Hulse of money worries while she’s recovering from surgery for cancer
- Bridport, UK
- Funded on Tuesday, 5th March 2019
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Story
Please help relieve the burden of money worries for my mum while she undergoes major surgery for cancer. She is currently unable to work, and as a self employed artist this means she currently has no income. By contributing whatever you can manage, you will be making a huge difference to such an amazing person- she truly deserves this help during such a worrying time. Read the full story below. Thank you!
My wonderful Mum, Gillian Hulse means the world to not only me, my sister Katy and Dad Phil, but so many other people. She is caring, generous, creative and a great friend to loads of people. Professionally, Gillian Hulse is a self-employed glass artist who normally spends her time creating beautifully colourful pieces of jewellery, bowls, panels etc out of fused glass, from her workshop at Broadwindsor Craft Centre in Dorset. As many artists might agree, this is not the most lucrative type of work, but she earns what is needed to get by. The passion she has, and the joy she gets from her work make it so worthwhile and you can guarantee every piece of work she hand-creates has been done so with a huge amount of her own care and attention.
However, recently Gill’s work and workshop have had to take a back seat while she has undergone several weeks of medical scans, tests and consultations. Finally, several weeks ago we received the news no family ever wants to receive; she has a large tumour blocking a large part of her lung, and she needs major surgery soon to remove not only the slow-growing tumour (which apparently has likely been there for a number of years), but also half of the lung itself. As a lifelong non-smoker, you may find it strange for someone like my mum to develop such a thing. However this tumour is not a regular ‘lung cancer’- it is apparently most likely to be something called a NeuroEndocrine tumour (NETS) which can develop in various places, most commonly the bowel, stomach or lung. It wasn’t safe enough to take a biopsy due to the risk of bleeding, so we won’t know exactly what we’re dealing with until it is removed TODAY, 5th November 2018.
Now, anyone who knows my mum well won’t be surprised to hear that, despite such horrid news, she has taken it all in her stride and has such a positive and calm attitude towards the whole thing. She has been open about it, preferring just to let people know whats happening as they would wish to know. She has spoken to friends and family, and has been so delighted to hear and receive such a wonderful outpouring of love and well wishes from everyone. All the positivity, advice, help and encouragement she has received from everyone so far has been tremendous, really boosted her mood, and really shows just how many wonderful people she has in her life! She really is so grateful for all of this, so a huge thankyou to everyone for this.
Again, those who know Gill will also know that she would never be happy to ask for help with money, which is why I am doing this on her behalf. A while ago I did ask her how she would feel if i were to try and raise money to replace the losses she will experience while she is unable to do her work. As it was such an odd thing to think about, she really wasn’t sure, so I left the idea with her to think about while she found out about other financial things. However, having now looked into the financial side of simply being too unwell to work whilst being self-employed, it seems there is little help available for people like mum. It seems that one has to fit some very particular criteria in order to qualify for financial help from the system, and sadly she is unlikely to receive much help at all during this time. My wonderful Dad / her lovely husband is working his own socks off, fulfilling a huge number of stone carving orders to earn a living, even though he himself could really do with some time to digest all of this, look after himself as well as look after mum.
I have finally decided that enough is enough- my parents are wonderful people who don’t deserve this stress, and they would help anyone else out in this situation. So here we are at my solution to their money worries for rent, bills, food and so on. Gill and Phil simply need the headspace, free of money worry, to concentrate on recovering and adapting after such a stressful time.
I would like to ask as many people as possible to donate just a small amount of money- just a few quid, or whatever you can manage, to this super worthy cause. You will all be helping so much towards removing the stress and burden of loss of income whilst my mum is unwell and has to undergo and recover from major surgery.
Such a HUGE and grateful THANKYOU to anyone willing to help towards this crowdfunder for my Mum. Updates will be posted on this page as to her recovery, so watch this space!
Updates
6
6 years ago
Holly Brown
6 years agoWow!! This couldn’t happen without you wonderful people! Please do continue to hit that share button-every share is massively helpful so thank you 😊
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6 years ago
Holly Brown
6 years agoIt’s update time! Mum/ Gill is recovering well- she’s been up and walked about a bit, although still needs oxygen and nebulisers at times. She has been told by the surgeon that the procedure they performed is particularly rare and they were even able to preserve the top lobe of the lung. As she’s such an interesting case she has been ever popular with medical students etc... one even asked for a souvenir (a bit of lung..), and she’s agreed to be involved in a study! We are all simply stunned by your generosity and kindness so THANK YOU again!
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6 years ago
Holly Brown
6 years agoFor those of you interested in finding out more about Gillian’s work, here is the link to her website. Obviously she isn’t taking on commissions / anything new at the moment, but if you do see something you’re interested in, such as a Christmas gift or similar, feel free get in touch with me via Facebook and I can always sort it for you. Below this I have also added the link to my Dad (Phil Brown’s) stonecarving website too! Yep...I deffo won the parent lottery. http://www.gillianhulse.com/ http://www.wordsinstone.co.uk/-words-in-stone-.html
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Holly Brown started crowdfunding
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Supporters
11
Roberta
Dec 3, 2018
Great idea. Your mum is amazing...thanks for finding a way to let us help. X
£50.00
Rachel Cutler
Nov 8, 2018
Looking very well Gill! Wishing you all the very best for a super speedy recovery. Sending love and very best wishes from Diana, Rachel and the Gang xxx
£50.00
Marion Blockley
Nov 6, 2018
Much love Gill, thinking of you, get well soon. M x
£30.00
Alison Tebbs
Nov 6, 2018
Hope you recover well Gill. Sending love from us both.
£30.00
Lorna Quinney
Nov 6, 2018
Get well soon Holly's Lovely mum xx
£10.00
Pippa
Nov 6, 2018
Wish it could be more. But sending much love with it for a speedy and full recovery for Gill.
£30.00
Mick Williams
Nov 5, 2018
Get well soon Gill. Mick
£30.00
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Holly Brown
Bridport, UK
Hello, I’m Holly! I am the younger of Gill’s two daughters. I’m raising this money for my Mum because with the worry of her condition and stress of the surgery, I simply wanted to do something to reduce the worry of money while she focuses on getting better rather than working.