Hannah Cuff and Helen Sprawson-White
Local charity Positive Action on Cancer has hailed 2014 a huge success in its 20th anniversary year.
The charity has said a big thank you to the Frome community for its fantastic support saying it couldn’t continue its work without the backing it gets from the local community.
The charity is also looking ahead to an exciting 2015 when it hopes to continue to increase services and help more local people.
“At Positive Action on Cancer we receive fantastic support from the readers of the Frome Times,” said Mary Taylor, director. “The local community is incredibly loyal and committed and year after year they continue to hold us close to their hearts as their local charity of choice.
“We’ve had some great achievements which allow us to continue the important work that we do, as well as some setbacks which have made the year more challenging.
“One thing that is very clear to us at the end of every year is just how vital our service is. Our feedback from the families and individuals we help continues to inspire us on a daily basis and our clients regularly refer to us as a lifeline.
“PAC simply couldn’t continue the work that we do without support from the local community.
“This year we have had fantastic support from local businesses including Mulberry, Affinity Wellbeing, Eyetech, Barclays Bank, TSB and Asda as well as the Frome community which has really got behind us, with increasing numbers of people completing challenges, putting on fundraisers on our behalf and turning out at events.
“We have seen the expansion of our service this year to Weston General Hospital, funded by the Weston Area Health Trust which allows us to see even more people affected by cancer in our local area, and recent Children in Need funding will allow us to reinstate our children and young people services that we had to cut last year.
“Our referral numbers are up 10% on this time last year and we have managed to increase our fundraising efforts to meet this demand thanks to the hard work of our staff, volunteers and most importantly our supporters.
“However, it has not all been plain sailing. This year we received refusals from several grant-making trusts which was a devastating blow, and saw us having to make cuts to our children’s service.
“With more competition for trusts and grants, which remain our major source of income, we have had to rely more heavily on support from individuals, corporates and our community who have responded brilliantly and whose support goes from strength to strength. We have very little guaranteed income at PAC, so every year we have to work incredibly hard to bring in enough income to enable us to carry on our service.
“Having said that, it is an incredibly exciting time at PAC. September marked 20 years since the charity was founded and in this, our 21st year, we would love to achieve more than ever before.
“With 10,000 people being diagnosed with cancer every year in our local area we are acutely aware that there is more demand out there for our service than we can currently cope with. This year we hope to raise more money in order to help us reach more people who desperately need our support.
“There are so many ways that readers can get involved. With very little secure income the beginning of every year leaves us feeling vulnerable. We are appealing to people to help us protect the security of our service by setting up a small monthly donation by going to www.positiveactiononcancer.co.uk/donate.
“In March we have record numbers of people signed up to complete challenge events for us, from The Bath Half to taking part in our first ever skydiving day. If running, cycling, jumping out of planes or a challenge of another sort takes your fancy then please do get in touch.
“PAC desperately needs more volunteers. If you would like to find out about the different ways you can donate your time and your skills please get in touch with Hannah at volunteerinfo@positiveactiononcancer.co.uk.
“Finally if throwing a coffee morning, a tea party, a ball or another fundraising event appeals to you then please contact us on fundraising@positiveactiononcancer.co.uk.”
For more information on the work of PAC please go to www.positiveactiononcancer.co.uk or email Karen on info@positiveactiononcancer.co.uk
