A RHYL-based charity and one of its volunteers are finalists at the Butterfly Breast Cancer Awards, held on September 22 in Northwich.
The Osborne Trust are finalists to win the Charity Impact Award, with Julie Bright, one of its volunteers, among those in the running for the Transformed Life Award.
Emma Osborne, founder of the trust who works day to day running the charity, said: “We are honoured to be up for this award for all our work supporting children of a parent going through breast cancer.
“Although our work focuses on the children and young people of a mum/dad going through any kind of cancer treatment, living with incurable cancer of who have died from this cruel disease, children of a parent with a breast cancer diagnosis make up approximately 85 per cent of our referrals.
“We don’t do what we do for awards or recognition but. It’s nice to be appreciated and be noticed, it makes the long hours, busy days, and all that we try to do for these kids, worth it.”
Julie was nominated for her award by a resident of Abergele alongside Emma from the trust for all the hard work she does in her community of Rhos-on-Sea where she lives, and Abergele, where she works in fundraising for the trust.
She first got involved with the trust after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2014 when her children, then aged nine and 12, needed support.
Julie added: “Parents like me need The Osborne Trust; it provides vital resources to support our kids and gives them some respite from what’s going on at home by paying for local activities.
“It’s lovely to be up for this award and recognised for the fundraising work I have done over the years. A few weeks after my chemotherapy ended in 2014, I was climbing Snowdon.
“During the COVID period I dressed up as a dinosaur and walked from Colwyn Bay Pier to Llandudno Pier and back.
“I provide local businesses in my town with donation tubs and loose change boxes for donations to the trust and am known for dancing on tables when the trust hold their boogie bingo nights.
“The support they provided for my kids meant I was always going to give back and help them.”
Sadly, for Julie, her cancer returned this year, and she has now been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.
But this hasn’t stopped her, and she is now fundraising for the trust throughout her chemotherapy journey.
This hasn’t been easy, as she found she is allergic to the chemotherapy given to her and her treatment plan has had to change to a weekly regime.
But she is still sharing her page to fundraise for the trust – and if you would like to support Julie, head over to her page at: www.justgiving.com/page/Julie-bright-chemo.
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