Fundraising group makes final generous farewell gesture to Breast Unit as it winds up for good
A support group which has helped hundreds of people affected by breast cancer has donated £25,000 to Swansea Bay’s Breast Unit as its final gesture before winding up.
The Afan Nedd Breast Cancer Support Group launched in December 1992 to provide practical advice, support and friendship, as well as raise funds for breast cancer services.
At its peak it boasted 35 members, but with just six members remaining the team have decided to call it a day – and donate their remaining funds to the Breast Unit located at Singleton Hospital.
Treasurer Betty Jones said: “We have all benefited from breast cancer treatment at some point and have raised money for the likes of Maggie’s.
“We are mostly in our eighties now and have run out of puff! We are not able to do what we used to do, so sadly we have come to the conclusion our fund-raising days are over. It’s the end of an era really, we will just be ladies who lunch now!”
The group, which was founded by breast care nurse Ann Baker and five others, used to meet monthly in the nurses’ home at Neath General Hospital, and hosted various speakers over the years.
It also ran trips and meals out, and even hosted a fashion show, which raised £1,300. Funds were used to support the unit to buy pieces of equipment which the NHS doesn’t fund. Its first purchase was a Trucut Biopsy Gun which reduced the waiting time for the result of a biopsy from one week to one day.
It followed that up with a new digital mammogram machine in 1997– at the time one of only four in the world, helped with a generous donation by Fuji of £175,000, to meet it’s £250,000 cost.
Other items and projects the group has funded is furnishing and decorating a family room, the purchase of a mammogram chair, a pressure sleeve, trolleys, wheelchairs, gowns, bags, and toiletries. IT also created mosaics that enhance the corridors of the breast cancer suite.
Fellow group member Marilyn Cardy added: “It has been lovely to do these things together and provide support for each other, but it is the right time to wind up the group now.”
Sam Jenkins, Directorate Manager, Surgical Specialties, added: “We are extremely grateful to the Afan Need Breast Cancer Support Group for their kind donation and would like to thank the group for their generosity over the years.
“As a thank you to the group, we are having a plaque made which will be on display in the Breast Unit at Singleton Hospital.”
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