Newbury Cancer Care volunteer bids farewell after 25 years of fundraising for the charity that supports the Rainbow Rooms, the Rosemary Centre and the Newbury Day Hospice at West Berkshire Community Hospital

One of the longest serving fundraisers for a Newbury charity has decided to hang up her volunteering gloves.

Liz Chaplin first started fundraising for Newbury Cancer Care in 1996, after it helped her during and after her husband’s illness.

But now, after more than two decades and having raised in excess of £25,000 for the charity, Mrs Chaplin has decided that due to her own ill-health, it is time to pass the volunteering baton on to someone else.

Mrs Chaplin was joined by a number of volunteers and trustees of the charity, including Dr Paul Millard who set up the Trust in 1984 and a former chairman of the charity David Ball, for a farewell celebration at the Hartley Arms, in Donnington, recently. They presented her with a number of gifts including flowers and a CD/radio.

She said: “It is just a super charity; so local and hands on. I am sorry I am having to retire.

“I have just loved it. They were so wonderful when my husband died that I started fundraising for them.

“I feel sad because it has been 25 years and I have enjoyed every minute of it.”

“I shall miss it, but I am still staying as a friend of Newbury Cancer Care.”

Newbury GP Dr Millard described Mrs Chaplin as a “champion calendar seller” and added that she had also taken part in fashion shows over the years to help boost the fundraising efforts.

“She was a great supporter of the Rosemary Appeal [a £5.3m fundraising campaign to build a cancer care and renal dialysis unit at West Berkshire Community Hospital] too,” he added.

Mrs Chaplin, who has been a trustee of Newbury Cancer Care for more than 20 years, said she held “a bit of a do at home” one day and raised £800 for the appeal.

She was recognised for her voluntary work, which also includes working at The Watermill theatre and the Corn Exchange, as one of West Berkshire Council’s Big Thank You 2020 award winners.

Newbury Cancer Care helps local people who have been diagnosed with cancer, or other life-threatening illnesses, offering practical help and information to patients and their families. It is the parent charity for the Rainbow Rooms, the Rosemary Centre and the Newbury Day Hospice at West Berkshire Community Hospital.