£100,000 — We did it!

Jackie Plant, Peter Snow, Lillian Walsh, Terry Dean, and Debbie Walker celebrate the £100,000 milestone.

THE Christie’s at Oldham appeal — backed by the Chronicle — has hit its £100,000 target in an amazing seven months . . . five months ahead of schedule.

Generous Oldhamers who came out in their droves to offer their support have been given a huge pat on the back for making it an incredible success.

The campaign began in March when the Chronicle teamed up with Christie in a bid to support the hospital’s £17 million radiotherapy centre due to open at the Royal Oldham early next year.

A 12-month deadline was set, but the appeal quickly caught the hearts and minds of Oldhamers, many of whom told their own personal stories of their battle against cancer to help swell the coffers.

A delighted Jacky Plant, community fund-raising officer at the Christie charity, said: “From the moment we launched this appeal, the people of Oldham took the campaign to their hearts.

“I am over the moon we have reached the target in a matter of months.

“I am so proud, and I want to say a huge thank-you to every single person who has contributed and made sure that we achieved this fantastic goal.

“A target of £100,000 was a huge amount to raise in a year, but thanks to the wonderful people of Oldham we did it in seven months.

“The radiotherapy centre will make such a difference to the lives of cancer patients in this area, and the generous people of Oldham helped make that happen.”

Fund-raisers are not lying down however, and have stressed that the appeal is on-going, in a bid to raise as much money as possible.

Staunch Christie fund-raiser Lilian Walsh (81), who has helped raise many thousands of pounds over the years as chairman of the Oldham-based Christie’s Against Cancer, is overwhelmed by the campaign’s success.

She said: “I didn’t expect it to be raised so quickly. I just don’t know how the people of Oldham have done it, with so many out of work.

“They have given so generously and been willing to run fund-raising events. It makes our job easy and I would like to thank everyone for their help.”

Chronicle editor Jim Williams said he was delighted but not surprised that the £100,000 target had been reached ahead of schedule.

“The Christie has a place in the heart of all of us and the generous spirit of Oldhamers was guaranteed to rise to the challenge of such a worthwhile cause,” he said.

“The Chronicle has been privileged to be the vehicle that has delivered the £100,000 donation so quickly.”

Lead radiographer for the new radiotherapy centre is Saddleworth’s Julie Davies.

She said: “It is absolutely fantastic. The centre will be a superb facility and I am delighted that the people of this area will be able to access first class radiotherapy treatment closer to home.”

Julie is currently dividing her time between the Christie site in Withington and the new radiotherapy centre, and will be based in Oldham permanently when the centre opens.

This week is the first ever Christie’s Week. Hundreds of fund-raising events are taking place across the North-West, culminating in the hospital’s biggest ever simultaneous collection on Saturday. Collectors will be in Oldham town centre from 9am-5pm.