Lye company getting ready to support worthy charities in support of Breast Cancer awareness month
A group of workers and supporters of a Lye care company will be in the pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month after organising an event to raise money for charities devoted to the cause.
The pink themed coffee and cake day at Pinnacle Support, Hayes Lane will take place on October 20, one day before Breast Cancer Awareness day.
The bulk of the money will go to the Midlands based Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer charity, which provides 'Hugs in a Bag' for sufferers, counselling support and education for people on how to test themselves for the disease.
Pinnacle Support itself provides day services for adults with varying learning disabilities, some of whom have experienced breast cancer, with one of the workers also having first hand experience.
Support worker Wendy Skelding saw her sister Claire Lowe sadly lose her fight against the disease and said she was trying to bring about a positive out of a negative and increase awareness.
A pre-sale of raffle tickets for the event has already raised £1,000 and a 'chain of bras' which have been donated will be on display and then sent to women in Africa and other developing countries.
Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer was started in Stourbridge in 2000 by Veronica Kumeta and the late Sue Macmaster after their friend was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Since then they have expanded to provide the Hugs in a Bag to 19 hospitals across the Midlands, containing everything from a blanket to nail polish to hand sanitizer, drinking chocolate and puzzle books – all items which they can use during their stay in hospital.
But Veronica, who is one of a team of volunteers running the charity which covers a radius from North Staffordshire to the West Midlands and Shropshire, said this year has been one of the toughest they have experienced.
She said: "Like a lot of organisations, Covid has hit donations and support and things have been tough because we have expanded greatly to cover a larger area and provide more bags – each one costs £35 to cover all the items inside,
"As a small regional charity that relies entirely on donation, volunteers and funding to deliver support and care to people suffering from breast cancer we appreciate greatly fundraising days such as the one in Lye later this month close to Breast Cancer Awareness day.
"It will centre around awareness as well as fundraising and that is also the point of our organisation – to support people going through breast cancer but also to encourage them to check themselves regularly, if only once a month because fast diagnosis could save their lives."
The event starts at 10am on the 20th. For more information on Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer, go to www.lbef.org.uk or for information on Pinnacle Support, go to www.pinnaclesupportdudley.co.uk.
