Story
I've been overwhelmed with the amount of support and love that has surrounded me this year, during what has been a pretty awful time. In March (ironically on International Women's Day, since it was gynaecological), I was diagnosed with cancer, out of the blue, and life went somewhat wonky...
Many of you know what has happened over the last year, some were here throughout and others twigged and got in contact. Whilst it was never a secret, we didn't feel like shouting the news from the rafters either, so please accept my apologies for not telling you directly if you did not know until now.
I hope you, and your loved ones, never need to use their extraordinary support and advice. But if you ever do, please do not think twice about reaching out to me, or to contacting Shine directly via their website, facebook, or twitter.
I was utterly blown away by the donations when I posted a birthday fundraiser for Shine back in May this year. I clicked a few times to sign up to start the fundraiser whilst I was waiting for my 20th external radiotherapy session, and 15 mins later when I came out of being blasted, I burst into tears when I saw that over £100 had already been donated. My 38th birthday this last year involved a meeting with my oncologist and an external radiotherapy session, followed by a lovely, but light, lunch at a gorgeous little cafe with my wonderful husband, and then a long nap in the garden.
I have been lucky enough to be given a place on Shine's Great Escape in Bournemouth in Jan 2020. Three and a half days of support, advice, friendship, and people who know what this weird new world means and is like, and how to deal with it. I'm breaking cover, and announcing all of the above quite publicly, because I would like to try to raise some funds to support Shine and to enable them to be able to help more people in their 20s-40s in the future. During the Escape we are going to be doing a 5km hike. This is quite a big thing for me, after all of the fieldwork and travels I have done over the years, 5k would have been nothing in the past, but now it seems like a lot. If you are able to give a couple of pounds, enough for a coffee, or a G&T maybe, if you would ever buy me a drink in a pub, I would be hugely appreciative if you would buy that next one for Shine instead. The one after that, for you, in person, will be on me.
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Shine Cancer Support is the only charity in the UK focused on supporting adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s who have experienced a cancer diagnosis. Shine is run by people who are living with cancer and run unique events across the UK. Donations from the general public form the bulk of Shine's income - and with a tiny staff, you can rest assured that all of your money goes toward making a difference to the lives of younger adults with cancer.