During Breast Cancer Awareness month we are delighted to announce that the Giving to Pink fundraising group has reached a huge milestone in raising £300,000 towards a state-of-the-art specialist breast care unit at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.
Giving to Pink was founded in October 2014, by former patient Clare Smart following herown diagnosis of breast cancer. Clare was so impressed with the services and care she received that she made it her mission to raise money to improve the facilities for other patients.
Clare and a group of volunteers started to raise money by holding charity gala dinners, auctions and ladies’ lunches. Since then there has been fundraising in many forms, from charity rugby matches to cake sales, sales of goods, charity evenings and auctions. They even got the whole of the County involved four years ago and ‘turned Cwm Taf pink’.
Clare said: “It’s been an incredible fundraising journey. Six years ago as a grateful patient I promised Eifion Vaughan Williams I would raise £10,000 as a thank you to the fantastic breast care team at CTMUHB. Little did I know then that Giving to Pink would be such a success raising over £300,000.
“It’s not been easy, fundraising never is, but Giving to Pink has been supported by an amazing community and some incredibly generous businesses. I would like to thank everyone who has supported Giving to Pink since its conception.
“We hope that the fund will continue to grow and that future patients and their friends and families will continue to support Giving to Pink.
Consultant breast surgeon Zoe Barber said: “Clare, Giving to Pink and its supporters should be so proud of reaching such an incredible fundraising milestone. I’m delighted to have been appointed as a consultant breast surgeon at such an exciting time for the health board and we look forward to building on this fundraising further towards a state-of-the-art breast unit for our patients and their families.
“Throughout the pandemic, we have continued to offer breast surgery clinics to assess people who are concerned about breast changes, taking extra care to protect patients and reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure and transmission. We have also continued to offer the full range of breast cancer treatments, including operations and chemotherapy.
“Our colleagues in primary care have offered virtual and, where needed, face-to-face appointments throughout and anyone with concerns about changes in their breast should contact their GP.”
Clare Williams, Director of planning and performance, said: “The commitment shown byClare, the volunteers and our community who have donated so much of their time and money to support our breast services is remarkable.
“Whilst we continue to develop plans for a specialist breast care centre at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, we know that with the continued support of Giving to Pink, and the community, we will be able to create a breast care centre of excellence which we will all be very proud of, in an environment which supports our patients through their treatment and recovery.”
For more information on Giving to Pink visit http://givingtopink.com/