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A little lift for breast cancer patients in west Suffolk

A grant-giving national charity, Art for Cure, has this week made a generous donation of £10,000 to breast cancer charity littlelifts.

littlelifts, which launched in 2017, provides complimentary littlelift boxes for women facing chemotherapy treatment with oncology and breast care teams at five hospital partnerships across Norfolk and Suffolk. This year’s donation will mean that littlelifts boxes, will now also be available to those undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer at our Trust. 

Each littlelifts box is full of thoughtfully selected items to not only help alleviate some of the psychical side effects that some may experience, but many of the items simply provide a dose of emotional support for women during their treatment.

Since littlelifts’ launch two years ago, Art for Cure has donated a total of £47,000 to the charity. 

Andrea Pryor, clinical services manager for breast care at our Trust, said: “It’s fantastic that our breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy can now access these wonderful littlelifts boxes. Treatment can be hard, affecting you both mentally and physically. We do all that we can to care and support our patients through this time but being able to supply patients with these extra, uplifting items will I’m sure help brighten days as they go through their treatment journey.”

Belinda Gray, CEO from Art for Cure, fully recognises the value of the sentiment behind littlelifts after she received an out-of-the blue breast cancer diagnosis aged 46. After a year of chemotherapy and treatment, she is now well again, and enthusiastic to commit to a better future for those affected by breast cancer.

Belinda said: “Art for Cure is entirely behind the great work of littlelifts. Not only will every item in the box help make a difference to how someone is feeling but knowing that people care about what you are going through means even more.”

She added: “The treatment from the NHS is presently excellent and we are helping to provide further support and comfort in many different areas through our grant-giving donations to those facing a breast cancer diagnosis.”

Founder of littlelifts, Oa Hackett, said: “Without the support from Art for Cure, littlelifts would not have been able to launch at the end of 2017. We are extremely grateful to Belinda and her team for having so much belief in what we do.

“That’s why we have recognised Arts for Cure as a Founding Patron, because their generous support has allowed us to develop partnerships with five hospitals across Norfolk and Suffolk, including the latest addition of West Suffolk Hospital. This means that approximately 1,000 women per year, who face chemotherapy treatment for primary and secondary breast cancer across Norfolk and Suffolk, will be offered a littlelifts box. That’s pretty incredible.”

To find out more about the amazing work of littlelifts visit www.littlelifts.org.uk and for more about Art for Cure visit www.artforcure.org.uk

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Laura Talbot, breast care nurse, Andrea Pryor, breast care clinical services manager, Belinda Gray, founder Art for Cure; Oa Hackett, founder littlelifts; Di Rix, fundraiser; Helen Small, oncology nurse specialist; and Ali Bovil fundraiser.

Laura Talbot, breast care nurse, Andrea Pryor, breast care clinical services manager, Belinda Gray, founder Art for Cure; Oa Hackett, founder littlelifts; Di Rix, fundraiser; Helen Small, oncology nurse specialist; and Ali Bovil fundraiser.