Member's Experience - Sheila Williams
I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2003, and I initially started using the services of Cherry Lodge shortly after my treatment ended on Christmas Eve of that year.
My visits to Cherry Lodge were intermittent at first – I wasn’t quite sure in the beginning if it was something for me. I thought that it might be depressing rather than uplifting.
Now, however, I just don’t feel I could do without my weekly visits. If I wasn’t able to go there for any reason, I’m sure it would feel like I was losing my right arm.
Sure, there are some sad times – when we lose a familiar face, or someone has to cope with renewed treatment – but we tackle each trial as a team; each complementing the staff and helping one another to cope. Now it has got to the point where I feel I want to help put something back into the charity as well as benefit from it. And so,last year, I organised my first fundraising event – very kindly assisted by my friends Christine and Marcus Murphy, who loaned me their house, the former home of the late actress Dame Anna Neagle.
With help from a large group of Cherry Lodge friends, attendees and staff our Dame Anna Neagle Day turned out to be a resounding success — we raised a staggering £1,312.45. And that, I hope, will just be the first of many such fundraising events that I will take part in.
Cherry Lodge is an inspiration to so many, it deserves all the help it can get. But I truly feel that Cherry Lodge can be a help to so many more than currently use it. Anyone who has had cancer, or any family member struggling to cope, would benefit from the fantastic help it provides.
Sheila Williams
