CHARITY WORK
GWAITH ELUSENNAU
For many years, the Norwich Welsh Society have been suporting TENOVUS (Tenovus Cancer Care) by collecting at our St. David's Day Dinner and Service. Ceri Hill, Tenovus Cancer Care’s Regional Fundraising Manager, recently got
in touch with this very special message of thanks:
A huge thank you to everyone involved with the Norwich Welsh Society and all those in the local community that support their fundraising and awareness, it’s hugely appreciated and we couldn’t do what we do without your generous support!
We’re Wales’ leading cancer charity, with a long and distinguished history and are widely recognised for the quality of our support, care and research. Dealing with cancer can be frightening and stressful. We bring treatment, expert advice and support to where it matters most; the heart of the community.
If you or someone you love has been affected by cancer, our free cancer Support Line is there for you- 0808 808 1010 . It’s for anyone affected by cancer and our experienced nurses can offer advice on diagnosis, treatment, side-effects, and anything else that’s on your mind. And last year we handled more than 2,200 calls. Our Benefits advice team work to support those facing financial worries following their diagnoses and we helped access over £4.6millions.
Our Sing with Us choirs offer support, friendship and fun, and our ground-breaking research has shown singing is good for you too. Our choirs continued to meet virtually throughout the pandemic to help keep everyone connected and reduce the feelings of loneliness and isolation experienced throughput the lockdowns. We even held some fabulous virtual gigs!
Our Mobile Support Units counite to offer treatment directly in the community, so people don’t have to deal with the stress and costs of travelling miles to hospital.
Thanks so much again for support Tenovus Cancer Care!
FUNDRASING FOR PANCREATIC CANCER
Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most common cancer and is particularly aggressive: only 5% of sufferers survive for five years or more after diagnosis, and only 1% live for ten or more years after diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer is often symptomless, meaning that diagnosis happens at a stage where the cancer is quite advanced, potentially having spread to other parts of the body. Unlike other cancers, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer remains relatively unchanged over the last 40 years.
On December 28th 2017, the Norwich Welsh Society sadly lost our former president, Carolyn Phillips, who died just 31 days after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At the time, Gareth Phillips, our current president and her husband of 35 years, called for more money to go towards tackling the disease. He said, “the whole point is it is such a pernicious disease, it sits in your body until it spreads. The sad thing was when the consultant oncologist saw her just before Christmas he said if you had seen me in March we would have been able to give you chemotherapy.”
Since her death, Gareth has taken matters into his own hands. After his wife’s death, more than 225 people donated to a JustGiving page in her name, and hundreds more donated after her funeral, including Norwich Welsh Society to celebrate their 50th anniversary. As of September 2020, the page has raised £6,171!
The Norwich Welsh Soceity has been alongside Gareth every step of the way. In September 2018, Tony and Megan Davies organised a charity concert from the Gwalia Welsh Male Voice Choir, with all the money raised used to help fund a research project for the earlier detection of the pancreatic cancer. In March 2019, the Norwich Welsh Society invited poetry fans to attend a dramatised reading of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, also in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK.
Since Carolyn's death, her family and friends have raised more than £20,000 in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK. If you would like to find out more about the charity or would like to make a donation, please click the link below.