Alaster Armitage-Brain
Weʼre raising money to help The Lynda Jackson Centre at Mount Vernon Hospital support people affected by cancer just like Rachel and her family
Fundraising for Mount Vernon Cancer Centre
Story
In memory of Rachel Barnard we are fundraising for the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre at Mount Vernon Hospital. The Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre was opened in June 1993 to provide support and information to people affected by cancer. It was one of the first centres of its kind. The LJMC provides a service that supports patients and their families and helps them cope with all aspects of the disease from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond.
The centre was named after Lynda Jackson, a patient at Mount Vernon Hospital who died at the age of 31. Her family and friends raised a substantial amount of money in her memory to launch the fundraising for the centre that was to come to bear her name.
Rachel's Legacy
Rachel was diagnosed with Secondary Triple Negative Breast Cancer in January 2023. She was treated at Mount Vernon Hospital for 5 months before passing away in Ward 11 surrounded by her family on 6th May 2023. Triple Negative Breast Cancer is an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer that sadly affects about 15% of all breast cancer patients - it's most common in young women - there's no cure and no clear reason for people having it.
Rachel was a social worker and an advocate for people getting the best care and support - so in her legacy we are going to support LJMC to continue providing the vital support that people like Rachel need in their journey.
Find out more about what we're doing here .
The LJMC Mission statement
The aim of the LJMC is to meet the support and information needs of people affected by cancer by offering:
- Support which is responsive to the wishes of patients, their families and friends
- Information which is accurate, up-to-date and relevant to the individual
- A service which is available at any stage of a patient’s illness
The centre works closely with the NHS to ensure that conventional treatments and procedures are fully integrated with a complementary approach that deals with the patient as a whole person, and not just with the disease.
Find out more about The LJMC here.