Thatcham Rainbows memory in pink for leader

Cake sale helps raise money for new hospital wards

A THATCHAM Rainbow pack is raising money for a new hospital unit in memory of Kennet Vale Guider Anne Eldred, who died in October last year after a long fight with cancer.

Girls at the 1st Kennet Vale Rainbows held a pink evening in memory of their “kind and wonderful” Guider.

The Rainbows dressed in pink and decorated cup cakes, which they sold to their parents.

They also played games and held a raffle raising £85.40 for The Rosemary Appeal.

Assistant Guider at the 1st Kennet Vale Rainbows Julie Coxhead said that Mrs Eldred – known by her Guiding name of Dodo – was a “wonderful person”.

“She would do anything for anybody,” said Mrs Coxhead.

“She was so involved with the Guiding unit and the district as a whole.

“She would help people whenever she could.

“She suffered for quite a few years with cancer and fought back several times, but this time she didn’t make it.

“It was her kidneys that let her down in the end.”

Mrs Coxhead said that Guiding members were raising money for The Rosemary Appeal, a £4.5m project to build a state-of-the-art cancer care and renal dialysis unit at the West Berkshire Community Hospital.

“We thought that was an apt charity to fundraise for, in her memory,” Mrs Coxhead said.

A total of £100 was donated to the appeal by the 1st Kennet Vale Rainbows.

Mrs Coxhead said that the evening had gone better than expected and had been well supported by parents who remembered Mrs Eldred.

In April, Mrs Coxhead ran the Virgin London Marathon in Mrs Eldred’s memory, raising £433.00 for The Newbury & District Cancer Care Trust.

She completed the marathon in four hours, four minutes and two seconds.

“I was struggling, but determined to get to the end,” she said. “All my aches and pains were insignificant compared to what Anne went through.”