Celebrating 30 more years of life with a Great British Garden Party

Photo above: Gill (far left )and her husband Neil with a guest

Gill wanted to throw a party for friends and family to celebrate 30 more years of life since her last cancer treatment in 1994. She also wanted to show her support of the charities which had supported and helped her family at the time of  her parents and aunts deaths. Read Gill’s story below…

“I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease when I was 30, six weeks after my marriage to Neil. I had chemotherapy and radiotherapy and returned to work at Shell UK. However, the cancer returned and I had further chemotherapy which did not go well. As a last ditch resort I had high dose chemotherapy in a special ward of the Royal Marsden at Sutton with four other women. I was given a one in three chance of it working and I realised how incredibly lucky I was when I discovered that very sadly only two out of the five of us survived. I am eternally grateful to the Royal Marsden Hospital where doctors also suggested I had one round of IVF before my second treatment. As a result a few years later we had our son Freddie and later we had our son Charlie with a donor egg. Freddie appeared in the Times and on TV as the first child to be born to someone who had had my treatment.

“Both my parents and my only two aunts died of cancer so I am also incredibly grateful for all the help and support we received from Macmillan and Marie Curie at the time of their deaths.

“This summer, I wanted to throw a party for my friends and family, many who had supported us at the time, to mark 30 more years of life since my last cancer treatment in 1994.

“Seventy guests came and I asked them if they would consider a small donation to the National Garden Scheme instead of bringing a bottle or flowers. I was absolutely bowled over by their generosity – we raised an amount far beyond my expectations. And two guests gave a second donation after I explained where the money was going in a short thank you speech. It always surprises me how few of my friends understand where the money raised by the National Garden Scheme goes and the impact this has.

“The party started in the garden with fizz and canapes and followed on with a sit- down meal and dancing. My dear friend Elizabeth filled the house with beautiful flower arrangements and my friend Jane lent me some amazing Moroccan lamps which lit the garden as night fell. We all had a wonderful time. And thanks to everyone’s incredible generosity I was able  to make a donation of £2,606 including gift aid which was wonderful.”

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The National Garden Scheme

Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we have donated over £70 million to nursing and health charities and in 2023 made an annual donation of over £3.4 million. Our core beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, The Queen’s Nursing Institute, Carers Trust and Parkinson’s UK. Read more about all of our beneficiaries.