Jenny’s bit of peace and quiet raises thousands

New Milton-resident, Jenny, raised more than £6,700 to support local people affected by cancer by holding a 24-hour sponsored silence.

Jenny, who’s 50, decided to fundraise for us because our Bournemouth cancer support centre has been supporting her through her cancer diagnosis. She was given the all-clear from cancer in October 2023 only to be diagnosed with Stage 4 secondary breast cancer a few days before Christmas, which she describes as a huge shock.

Jenny says:

“I call the team at Wessex Cancer Support’s Bournemouth cancer support centre my ‘earth angels’ because they’ve given me the most amazing support. To go from thinking all the cancer had gone, to being told I had Stage 4 cancer in eight weeks was so very hard to get my head around, but they’ve been there throughout with kindness and compassion. The Reiki, reflexology and counselling I’ve received has helped enormously. I wanted to do something to give back, so I put a post on Facebook saying I was going to do a sponsored silence and asked my friends and family to donate. I’m a bit of a chatterbox, so they all know what a massive achievement it was for me. In fact, one of my friends said it would have been easier to climb Mount Everest!”

Steffi Colbert, the manager of our Bournemouth cancer support centre, said:

“We’ve all got to know Jenny and she’s such a chatty and jolly person to have in the centre, so we knew keeping quiet would be a huge challenge for her! The money Jenny’s raised will keep our support centre open for almost a month, so anyone affected by cancer can drop in and access the emotional support they need. As a charity which relies on donations to provide free, local and personalised emotional support to anyone affected by cancer across Dorset, we’re so grateful to Jenny.”

Inspired? £350 keeps one of our cancer support centres open for a day. Could you take on a challenge for us?

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