Fundraising for a Charity Close to Our Hearts

At the moment, Ridgeway Rise Care Home is raising money for Blood Cancer UK, a charity close to our hearts as Sam, one of our carers has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer.

The diagnosis means that Sam is able to continue with work but on limited hours as she can feel fatigued very quickly. Chemotherapy is not required for this type of cancer, meaning many people have commented that it is not a real cancer.

The disease really does affect Sam's life and now she wants to tell her story to spread awareness and inspire others to get checked out and not ignore their symptoms.

Sam's story:

"When I started to feel unwell last year, I went to the doctors who did some routine blood tests. After coming back abnormal & a referral I was eventually diagnosed with ET Essential thrombocythemia, a rare blood cancer, this makes me feel very fatigued if I do too much. I love to exercise, especially running & weight training which is good for me to continue but takes a lot of effort & self-motivation. I decided to do a fundraiser to raise awareness for blood cancer and money for treatments & clinical trials. Especially if I can help support others which I love to do!".

To support Sam, we organised a table top sale and cake sale and Sam has been doing a running challenge. We had many items donated for our sale, including an amazing toiletries donation from Vulnerable Assistance Network.

Team members, residents, and families all got involved in the fundraiser and Sam's fellow colleagues were wearing stickers with Sam’s face on, reading ‘I support Sam’!

Ridgeway Rise Care Home in Swindon always come together to support each other, whether it's staff, residents, or their relatives. Everyone showed exemptional solidarity and their spirit of togetherness shone through!

Sam has received words of support, passion, kindness, and generosity and it has been truly inspiring to see. Sam shows great amounts of support to everyone at Ridgeway Rise Care Home, and we are only too happy to be providing her with this support back.

Once again, Ridgeway Rise Care Home has proven how much everyone cares for each other and what a fantastic team we are. If you would like to support us with our fundraiser then please get in contact with our team.