One of the people behind a fundraising campaign to pay for a Stone mum’s cancer treatment says she’s overwhelmed by the response from people in the town.
Zoe Gregory and Julie Hope started the fundraising campaign in September last year after their friend Helen Hutchinson was told that free NHS cancer treatment had been exhausted. Helen had been diagnosed with bowel cancer three years ago, but in August she was told that it had spread to her lungs. The only option left now was to pay privately for a drug called Aflibercept – at a cost of £3,500 a month.
Until March last year, Afibercept was available free of charge, but it became one of 25 cancer drugs removed from NHS treatment by the Government.
So Helen’s friends Julie Hope and Zoe Gregory decided to raise some money.
In just under four months, they have helped to raise over £30,000 in a remarkable campaign to make sure that Helen can spend as much time as possible with her family, including eight-year-old son Freddie. Online fundraising, events and private donations have all seen money come flooding in as the town rallied to the cause.
[box type=”shadow” ]Zoe said: “The support from people in Stone has been nothing short of amazing. When we started the fundraising, our target was to try and get enough money to pay for the first month’s treatment. We’ve been overwhelmed by the response and the willingness of people to give and get involved. We organised a charity auction in December at Aston Village Hall, which raised about £7,000, but so many people have organised their own events, which has been brilliant.”[/box]
There’s been a fundraising football match, firefighters cleaning cars to raise cash, a sponsored swim, bake sales and much, much more. And the events keep coming. Longton Pool & Snooker Club are staging a race night on 29th January, and on 5th February there’s a flower arranging demonstration at Christ Church Centre in Stone. Details of both are at the end of this article if you’d like to support.
The fundraising campaign has received national attention through articles in the Daily Mail and The Sun, and Zoe and Julie want to continue with their efforts. So if you haven’t supported yet, you still can.
[button color=”red” size=”medium” link=”https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/helen-hutchinsonlifeline” ]MAKE A DONATION[/button]
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