Fundraising ball in memory of two friends
Mick and Carol were colleagues for over 25 years and sadly both passed away after suffering with cancer. Their partners, Sheila and Steve, decided to throw a huge fundraising ball in their memory to help raise money for the hospitals that helped them during their illnesses.
Sheila Shaw’s husband Mick was diagnosed with prostate cancer and received most of his treatment at Good Hope Hospital before passing away in 2018, and Steve Perryman’s wife, Carol, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at Heartlands Hospital where she received most of her treatment before she passed away after five years.
The two couples became good friends during the difficult time and had each other to talk to about treatments and how they were feeling. Sheila said: “It really helped us through, we went through it together and it was a little bit of support to have someone else.
“Both hospitals were really good and we just wanted to help both of them. We just felt that if the money went to the hospitals then it would go towards helping people like Carol and Mick.”
To celebrate their lives, Sheila and Steve put on a fundraising ball held at Birmingham City Football Club and invited all of their family, friends and colleagues to help them reach their target of £1,000 for Good Hope Hospital Oncology Unit and £1,000 for Heartlands Hospital Ward 19.
Talking about the treatments, Steve said: “Carol and Mick worked together for 25 years and they were ill at the same time, they’d talk on the phone about what they were going through and when they were both well enough we’d all meet up.”
The fundraising ball has some incredible prizes including Birmingham City and Aston Villa match tickets, a cricket training session with Chris Woakes, a tour of the BBC in Birmingham and so much more. It was a huge success and they beat their original target and raised an astonishing £4,062 which is being split between the Oncology Unit and Ward 19.
Laura Power, Fundraising Manager at Good Hope Hospital Charity, said: “A huge thank you goes to Sheila and Steve for organising such an amazing event in memory of their partners.
“You have raised a huge amount of money that will go towards providing added extras that go over and above what the NHS can fund for people just like Carol and Mick.”
To find out more about how you can help raise money for the hospital charity, please click here.
