A PARTY organised by a group of incredible friends from Kingsclere to celebrate the end of their cancer treatment led to them raising an amazing £40,000 for Cancer Research UK.

When breast cancer survivor Mandy Keable got together with friends Claire Ellis, Beccy Preston and Sean Cleghorn to arrange a small party to thank the community for their support during treatment, their plans soon turned into a stunning gala ball and auction and marked the creation of the Kingsclere Cancer Research Fundraiser group.

Now, as World Cancer Day approaches on Saturday, February 4, the group whose lives have all been touched by cancer, want to share their gratitude whilst outlining future events to help more people beat the disease. 

Mandy, 46, said: “Initially when the idea came to light we thought we could raise a few thousand pounds but as things grew, we saw the fundraising potential and we secretly hoped we might hit £30,000. To smash that and raise £40,000 was just incredible and we’re so grateful for the support we’ve received.”

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Mandy’s children were just three, nine and 15 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2019. She underwent a lumpectomy as well as received chemotherapy treatment that Cancer Research UK helped to develop.

Mum of three Claire, 40, has also benefitted from the progress Cancer Research UK has made in treating bowel cancer after her diagnosis in 2021 following years of digestive issues. After having a tumour removed, she received a combination of two drugs - oxaliplatin which the charity helped to develop and capecitabine, a treatment for which Cancer Research UK led the first human clinical trials.

Claire, a music teacher, said: “All four of us have had different experiences but at the heart of all of our care and treatment that has got us to where we are now, is the science."

Research has played an important part in Beccy’s life after discovering her family carries the faulty BRCA gene. Faulty BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes increase the risk of people developing breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancer.

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The mum of two girls aged six and nine and head of drama at the Kennet School, Beccy said: “My family have been affected by breast cancer particularly badly over the years and after being checked regularly, I needed some surgery. It was during my recovery that I felt I’d been given an opportunity that some of my family members didn’t have. I was able to be looked after and treated when some of them hadn’t been and I wanted to do something. That’s when I spoke to Mandy and Claire."

Claire, Mandy and Beccy say their plans stepped up a gear when Sean, 57, joined the group last year. Having tragically lost his wife Allison just four weeks after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during the winter lockdown of 2020-21.

The father of three said: “After a very emotional year, I joined the group to allow us to give something back to everyone that helped us and to try to ensure that other families don’t go through the same issues and problems that we did."