Gower villagers donate to cancer centre in memory of one of their own

Villagers in Gower have helped raise thousands of pounds for Swansea’s cancer centre as a tribute to one of their own.

Every year, some of the residents of Llanmadoc and Cheriton open up their gardens to visitors to raise funds for various good causes.

Among them were Roger and Menna Hughes, who were also closely involved with mixed choir Cantorian Llanmadoc.

(Pictured above, from left: Lynda Jenkins, Sue Mc’Cauley, Chemotherapy Day Unit manager Sue Rowland and Menna Hughes)

Sadly, Roger died in July, a year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. So a concerted effort saw the gardeners, choir and mourners at Roger’s funeral raise money for the South West Wales Cancer Centre.

The SWWCC is run by Swansea Bay University Health Board and provides a range of lifesaving NHS treatments such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.

It celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year and a fundraising appeal has been launched by Swansea Bay Health Charity, the health board’s official charity, to commemorate the landmark.

The appeal, Going the Extra Mile for Cancer, will support the thousands of patients from the Swansea Bay and Hywel Dda areas who are cared for there every year, as well as relatives and staff.

Menna has now attended the Chemotherapy Day Unit, part of the cancer centre, to present a cheque for £6,000. With her were fellow open garden host Sue Mc’Cauley and Lynda Jenkins, who is the choir’s musical director and helps out at the open gardens event, making teas and cakes.

“We have opened up our gardens for the last 27 years and in that time we have raised more than £130,000 for various charities,” Menna said.

“We always pick three charities, and the money is split between them. We raised £6,000 this year but because Roger passed away the day after the open gardens, the gardeners got together and decided to give £4,000 to Ward 9 and then £1,000 each to the Air Ambulance and Ty Olwen.”

The choir’s annual choir also raised money for the cancer centre and this, together with generous donations in lieu of flowers at Roger’s funeral added a further £2,000 for the cancer centre.

“He really thought highly of the staff here,” Menna explained. “He said they were really hard workers. Some days, when I’d pick him up after his chemo, he would say how busy it was and that the staff had not stopped. They’d been running around, but they were good.

“Roger was diagnosed last May. He had pancreatic cancer. It had already spread. He was given three to six months initially.

“Then we saw Dr Owen Nicholas, the oncologist, and he said that if Roger had chemo, it would increase to six to 12 months. That was in July last year and he made 12 months.

“So, it did give him that extra time and we made the most of it.”

Oncology Service Manager Kate Ashton said: “We are truly grateful for this extremely kind donation made in memory of Roger Hughes and would like to thank Menna along with the gardeners, choir and family and friends of Roger for their generosity.

“Donations to the South West Wales Cancer Centre are used to improve patient experience. This donation will go a long way in supporting that.”

Follow this link if you want to support the Going the Extra Mile for Cancer appeal.

And follow this link to find out more about Going the Extra Mile for Cancer.