The Spring 2026 Cherry Lodge Cancer Care Newsletter has now been sent to everyone on the Cherry Lodge Cancer Care mailing list. It is also possible, via this website, to access a pdf of the newsletter to read onscreen or to print out. Note that if you no longer wish to receive a copy of the newsletter by post, you can unsubscribe by contacting Tina by phone on 020 8441 7000 or email tina@cherrylodgecancercare.org.uk
News, Stories, Events and Services
Thank you to editor Helen Renshaw, designer Marcus Kirby and others who contributed to this first Newsletter of 2026.
We begin with a feature on our much-loved outreach nurse, Kirsty Mabb, who left last year after 19 years at Cherry Lodge. We wish her all the best for the future. Kirsty was passionate about offering ‘genuine care’ and support, developing a model of ‘outreach health and wellness sessions’ held in areas of high deprivation with poor health outcomes, She is rightly proud of her work, which also brought her joy and changed her life ‘for the better for sure’.
Under ‘Cherry Lodge Champions’, CL fundraising events coordinator, Tina Papasavva invites people to have fun and get involved. The spotlight is then shone on three CL champion fund-raisers: Claire Dutton who ran the London Marathon; Meena Parihar who did a tandem skydive; and Alex Woods, who walked the Thames Path for us 10 years ago and still raises funds for us.
Our ‘Big Thank You’ is to volunteer Anne Kapoor, who ‘wanted to give back’ to CL after being helped through breast cancer. Anne took up the challenge of reaching out to skin and haircare companies to encourage them to donate products to help members through their treatment. Thanks are also given in this issue to Olivia Banno, CL Information Nurse, who left CL in December. Oliva had been a member of our nursing staff since 2023, having first volunteered at CL in 2019.
In ‘What Cherry Lodge means to me’, CL member Luke Constantinides describes his diagnosis and treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma. Luke, the father of two daughters, was still in his 30s. He is extremely grateful for all the help he has received from CL, describing our centre as ‘a homely, warm and calming place, that got me away from the same four walls and gave me the positivity to keep going’.
‘Lizzy’s legacy story’, may help encourage others to consider leaving a ‘charitable legacy’ to Cherry Lodge. To Lizzy Laymond’s mother, Carolynne Cooper, CL was a real source of comfort and community. Later, in Lizzy’s words: ‘Leaving a legacy meant a great deal to all of us. For mum, it was a way of giving back after having received so much care. For our family it felt like a fitting way to honour her generous spirit and keep her memory alive.’
Also in this issue you will find an interesting selection of news snippets, information about upcoming Fundraising Events, and details about CL’s wide range of services.
If you have any Cherry Lodge stories you would like to share – especially if you are a member, volunteer or donor – please contact Helen on helen.renshaw22@gmail.com.
Click here to access the complete Spring 2026 Newsletter.
To access other recent newsletters, recent Annual Reports and a current Cherry Lodge leaflet, go to the About Us page of the website and then click on the appropriate item in the right-hand column under Downloads.