A Telford family have pledged to continue to support cancer services across Shropshire after the death of their father.
Alice Christian will continue to raise money for Lingen Davies Cancer Fund in her dad Marc’s legacy after he passed away from a brain tumour last February, aged just 60.
Alice, along with her three siblings Deanna, Georgina and Jack, and Marc’s three grandchildren Amelie, India and Harper, will continue to take part in fundraising events, and Alice has also trained to become a Cancer Champion. The project lead by Lingen Davies aims to train people how to start conversations about cancer and help raise awareness about the importance of cancer screening.
Alice said: “The Lingen Davies Cancer Centre was a huge part of Dad’s life, and the charity has a huge impact on those who come into contact with it.
“Dad left a legacy to Lingen Davies because he wanted to make sure it remains available to everyone else. We’re all determined to keep supporting the charity in Dad’s memory, I want to do more and hope to share my story.
“When dad went through it, there was never a time when he didn’t know what was happening, everyone went above and beyond for him. He wanted to make sure that the services are the same for other people to come, for him to live on even though he has gone.”
Marc went through three plans of treatment before it was decided there was nothing else that could be done so he and his family enjoyed their last 14 months together – they travelled to Jordan, Rome, Spain, and London and had a ‘wonderful’ last Christmas together, with fireworks on boxing day and all the family together playing music and games.
Before Marc died, Alice and her siblings were all well-aware how much he wanted
to continue supporting Lingen Davies following the care and support he received from the charity. They are now taking part in Lingen Davies events like the Colour Run and charity Ball and raising money and awareness in any way they can.
Alice, who is training to become a nurse, said: “We raised money for Lingen Davies as a family and throughout his treatment he really just wanted to spread joy.
“After he died we all did the colour run and it was brilliant, just fabulous fun. Dad would have loved it and laughed his way through it.”
And Alice said joy is a large part of her dad’s legacy too – he cheered other people up by wearing bright shirts to his treatment, then chatted and smiled to everyone there. When fundraising Alice said she is aware it will always be sad but that she and her family can ‘have a bit of a laugh with it’ as well as raising money and awareness by sharing on social media.
Anna Williams from Lingen Davies said a huge thank you to Marc’s family for their valuable ongoing support.
She said: “We were privileged to get to know Marc while he was undergoing treatment, he was a fabulous character, and we know he is sorely missed.
“It’s an honour to be able to continue growing that relationship with his children and we are very grateful for their fundraising activities, and for the legacy Marc chose to leave us in his Will.
“When people choose to leave something to charity in their Will it means we can better plan our income and future activities – all to the benefit of those impacted by cancer in our community.”
For more information about Lingen Davies Cancer Fund visit the website lingendavies.co.uk.
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