Broken Cross Club to support The Christie at Macclesfield appeal

Broken Cross Club rally for pal Lorraine and The Christie at Macclesfield

A cancer patient from Macclesfield has inspired three friends who all met at The Broken Cross Club to support The Christie at Macclesfield appeal in 2020.

Lorraine Johnson (69) was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and had the tumour removed at Macclesfield District General Hospital.

The treatment appeared to have been successful but sadly, during a routine scan in 2018, Lorraine found that she had secondary breast cancer in the bones of her spine. She was given a single round of radiotherapy to alleviate some of the pain and has been receiving denosumab injections regularly to help strengthen her spine. The cancer is considered to be incurable.

Having seen first-hand the impact of cancer on Lorraine, three of her close friends, Linda Longden (63), Julie Clifford (47) and Julie Cooper (57) wanted to do something to make a difference.

Three of the four friends had met through working at the Broken Cross Club, a social club on Fallibroome Road, and Linda who is the manager of the club helped to persuade the club to choose The Christie at Macclesfield as its charity of the year for 2020.

Linda herself had been through cancer previously, being treated at The Christie for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma by Professor John Radford.

The four friends have already been busy planning a wide range of fundraising activities including an Easter Bingo event on 29 March 2020, a Rock and Roll afternoon on 19 April 2020 and a charity fun day on 24 May 2020. Their first event, a raffle on New Year’s Eve, raised £2,000.

Lorraine  said: “Cancer affects a lot of people here at the club. I’m just one of many. We wanted to give something back for the wonderful work that The Christie does for so many patients in our area.”

Linda  added: “We and all the Broken Cross Club community know how important it is to bring The Christie to Macclesfield and are very enthusiastic about the fundraising activities we have planned for the rest of the year. We are very lucky that the new cancer centre will be so close to us and it will make the experience of cancer treatment for patients in this area that much more bearable.”

The Christie charity supports the work of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust providing enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds. This includes money for care and treatment, research, education and extra patient services. Gifts from the public make a huge difference to the care and treatment that The Christie is able to provide to patients and their families.

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust was the first specialist trust to be rated as ‘Outstanding’ twice (in 2016 and 2018) by the health regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It referred to The Christie as ‘a leader in cancer care’ and ‘a pioneer in developing innovative solutions to cancer care.’ The CQC praised the Trust’s staff which it said ‘go the extra mile to meet the needs of patients and their families’ and that they were ‘exceptionally kind and caring.’ In 2017, the CQC rated The Christie as the best specialist trust in the country, and one of the top three trusts overall in England.