A Gillingham mum has spearheaded a campaign to raise money for Hope for Tomorrow, which brings cancer care to communities.

Alison Day receives chemotherapy for breast cancer and monthly immunoglobulin therapy for Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia from the Mobile Cancer Care Unit, which treats patients in the car park at Peacemarsh Surgery twice a week. So thankful was Alison to be treated in Gillingham without the need to travel to Salisbury, she decided to raise much-needed funds for the service, which runs ten buses across the country, and has so far reached £2,655.

Alison said: “For me, the bus has meant that I don’t have to go to Salisbury for chemotherapy, blood tests and covid-19 swabs at the riskiest time in the pandemic. “It means that my husband and children can stay at home, getting on with their day, while I am having treatment a few minutes away. It has meant that I have routine and structure and see the same lovely faces each week. It has also meant I have a safe, quick way of receiving chemotherapy, and for that I am very grateful.”

Hope for Tomorrow pays for the bus, the maintenance and the running costs of the unit while the NHS pays for the staff and the treatment.

“We are so lucky in Gillingham that the bus comes twice a week,” said Alison. “I was able to have blood tests and covid tests on the Wednesday and then my treatment on the Friday, avoiding going to the hospital during the most dangerous time of the pandemic. And the staff on the bus are amazing. Joe who runs the MCCU is fantastic and is helped each week by brilliant nurses and nurse practitioners from the Pembroke Suite in Salisbury. They are kind and friendly and treatment becomes a calm and safe routine.”

“I want to give a big thank you to all the people who have donated. I wouldn’t want this story to be about me as there are so many people in our town fighting cancer at the moment, most notably two young people, one boy from Gillingham School and a young boy from one of the primary schools. They are far braver and are fighting far harder than anything that I am doing at the moment.”

Alison added: “Hope for Tomorrow has seen its funding stream cut by 85 per cent due to the pandemic as they normally host large public charity events.”

If you would like to donate for Hope for Tomorrow, please visit Alison’s Just Giving page at justgiving.com/fundraising/alison-day27.

Support Us

Thank you all so, so much for the love and appreciation you’ve shown us since we launched the New Blackmore Vale.

Please show your support and add a review on our Facebook page or on Google.