Cancer Connections has reached its fundraising target of £350,000 that will buy a permanent home for volunteer cancer support in South Tyneside. We wish to thank everybody who has contributed and made our capital appeal so successful.
Cancer Connections found the house that will be our future home 2 years and 3 months ago. Including alterations and furnishing it would cost £350,000.
People said “It’s only £350,000 we’ll soon find that!” but I was not so sure. That was a huge sum for the people of South Tyneside to raise and I thought we were going to need a lot of ‘outside’ help.
How wrong I was!
Donations started to arrive and fundraising events were organised. Applications were sent to lots of charitable funds but only a few were interested to help. One exception was South Tyneside’s own Barbour Charitable Trust whose Gift of £50,000 was a great encouragement.
Followed by the Boxing Day Dip, Mad March Hair Walk, Sunset Stroll, Fashion shows, Autumn Ball, the Mayors’ appeal, Christmas trees, numerous parties, football matches, runners and walkers in Great North events, local sponsored events of every description and countless personal donations, amazing progress was made.
By the end of January this year we were down to the last £50,000 to find but we had to reach the target by August or we would lose a large contribution pledged by the London-based Garfield Weston Foundation.
“If everyone gave us just £1 we would be fine” someone said – and that’s when our local paper, the Shields Gazette, stepped in and the ‘Quids-In”’ campaign started. What has followed has been quite remarkable.
Every corner of South Tyneside has been galvanised to help. At the Gazette Leah Strug, her fellow reporters and photographers have made sure that every evening news about cancer and progress of the Appeal has been published with top quality reporting. Friends and neighbours have contributed. People who have never come to Cancer Connections have walked in to the Drop-In to put their quid in the box. Schools, colleges, shops, businesses have joined in. Even friends from Belgium, Canada, France and the USA have contributed – and finally, South Tyneside’s Mayor, John Anglin, has capped the target from his annual appeal.
Our home for volunteer cancer support in South Tyneside has been bought by the people of South Tyneside, with some help from their friends.
Thank you to everyone who has made this appeal a success.
Read more and watch the video of the celebrations on the Shields Gazette website
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