A life well lived: Raising awareness and funds for Cancer

Before he died in March 2012, my late husband Nick asked that I and his close friends help people affected by cancer on the Isle of Wight, and left a fund of £5,000 to get us started.

Nick and I were lucky to be able to benefit from life-changing “whole person” support from Penny Brohn Cancer Care (in Bristol) during his illness. Penny Brohn Cancer Care are funded entirely by voluntary donations and their courses are offered free of charge to those affected by cancer.

Helping support Penny Brohn Cancer Care
Our aim is simple: To raise awareness of Penny Brohn Cancer Care and the amazing work they do – and to raise funds to bring their services to those who are affected by cancer on the Isle of Wight.

“Living Well with the Impact of cancer” course
We’ve been working with local health professionals, Jane Hazeldine and Jo Hanks, and the good people at Penny Brohn to do just that – and the pilot “Living Well with the Impact of cancer” course will be run by Penny Brohn facilitators at The Lake Hotel, Bonchurch Oct 23 & 24th – with two nights full board accommodation for up to 12 people affected by cancer (including patients and their carers)

Already helping
Nick’s Legacy fund has already provided warm fleece blankets for patients in the chemotherapy unit at St Mary’s – and has ordered 20 MP3 players pre-loaded with relaxation exercises.

It is also funding the pilot course at The Lake Hotel – and we’ve started fundraising in the hope that we can offer up to ten courses on the Island in 2013, as well as helping to set up a treatment support clinic…a lot to do!

Round Island walk this week
I’m setting off on a solo (clockwise) walk around the Island on Wed 12th September from Yarmouth to help raise awareness and funds.

If you’d like to donate to the funds to help those affected by Cancer on the Island, you can donate through the Just Giving page.

All taking part are volunteers, and we’d welcome others with an interest in this cause – and who have skills we lack – to join us.

You can follow the progress of Sue’s walk and Nick’s Legacy on the dedicated website, Facebook (A-Life-Well-Lived) & Twitter (@alifewell_lived).