Two daughters who lost their dads to cancer have raised thousands of pounds for charity - with a little bit of help from a local celebrity.
Laura Cox and Samantha Marlow, both 34, arranged an event at Swindon Rugby Club that took place last weekend. The aim was to celebrate the lives of their late fathers Nigel Cox and Chris Marlow with "good music and dad dancing."
The long-time friends recently lost Nigel and Chris within a few months of each other, Nigel to oesophagus cancer and Chris to lung cancer. During the two men's battle with the disease, they received care and support from two charities - Prospect Hospice & MacMillian Cancer Support.
So, they put on the event to fundraise for the two organisations with the highlight being a raffle jam-packed with donations from local businesses and This Country Star Daisy May Cooper.
Cooper, who lives in the area and is well-known for her outlandish outfit choices at awards nights and events, donated several items towards the event, including her iconic one-of-a-kind tie dress that she wore at the "This Country" BFI TV preview in 2020.
After the tickets had been sold, and everyone had claimed their prizes, one lucky lady had secured the dress for herself - throwing it on straight away, and the event organisers had netted £2,050 for the two charities.
Other donations were from local businesses like Penally Abbey Hotel, Cotswold Wildlife Park, Boom Battle Bar, Birmingham Hilton, Swindon Wildcats, and dozens more.
Domino’s Pizza also donated several pizzas to fully cater the event, and Swindon Rugby Club offered the venue free of charge.
Laura Cox said: "A big thank you to Swindon Rugby Club who not only gave the venue for free but stayed open late and they all even said they had a fabulous time as well.
“I’d also like to thank anyone who donated and all my friends, family and work colleagues for coming, but also for being the biggest support. We’ve been there for each other through all the most amazing and incredibly sad times.
She said: “We just wanted to put on here a massive thank you! For anyone who gave us raffle prizes, for everyone who came and anyone who couldn’t make it but has donated on our just giving page!
"We raised an incredible £2,050 for Prospect and MacMillan and still more online donations to come.”
If you would like to support Laura and Samantha by donating to the two charities, you can do so via the following line - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/nigel-chris?utm_term=xm5b6JZR4
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