TWO Swindon cousins, whose friend was like an “extra mum” to them, have both helped to raise over £700 for Prospect Hospice to say thanks for the care she received there in her final days.

Kim Chilcott, 24, and Donna Royle, 26, organised a fundraising day last month in memory of Jean Russell and to raise money for Prospect Hospice. Jean was an old family friend who got to know Kim and Donna well when they started plating skittles together.

In March 2015, Jean was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; she fought through several rounds of chemotherapy and lived far longer than doctors originally predicted. “They gave her two to four months to live,” said Jean’s husband, Michael, 74. “She lasted eighteen months and passed away in October 2016. She fought until the bitter end.”

Kim said: “We just wanted to do something nice for Jean. She was always such a good friend to us – she was like an extra mum. A lot of people helped us to organise the event and loads of people turned up – it was amazing.” The pair raised £702.60 on the day. Donna added: “We didn’t expect to raise that much, we were quite shocked. Everyone was so generous.” The addition of these funds to the funeral collection and donations in memory of Jean through a JustGiving page brings the total raised £1978.

The Ashford Road Club hosted the fundraising day for free and donated the money paid for refreshments to Prospect Hospice. The day included a skittle tournament and a raffle, with prizes donated from local businesses. Local man Jason Bourne auctioned off a teddy he won in the raffle, raising £120 for the hospice.

Michael was there on the day and was thrilled with the outcome. “There must have been a couple of hundred people there. It was perfect. It’s been fantastic to raise this much for the hospice – nothing was ever too much trouble for the staff there, and the care for Jean was fantastic.”

“She was a fighter,” Kim added. “She never let the cancer worry her and was always her normal self, she still came down to the club with Mick to join us for a social drink. She was so positive and never said anything negative about her situation – she just used to say: “When it’s my time, it’s my time.””

Donna said: “We’d love to say thank you Iceland because they donated a lot to us. We’d also like to thank everyone that came, and everyone that played skittles and got involved, as well as everyone that donated raffle prizes.”

Louise Brooks, from the Prospect Hospice Fundraising Team, said: “We are so grateful to Kim and Donna for all of their hard work. Their incredible efforts are a wonderful testament to Jean’s memory.”

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