Cancer survivor's plea for charity shop volunteers
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A brave Inverness granny who survived cancer is leading urgent calls for Scottish volunteers to help get life-saving research back on track.
The charity Cancer Research UK expects to lose £160 million as a result of closed shops and cancelled fundraisers during the pandemic.
Sheelagh Chisholm (62), manager of the Drummond Street outlet in Inverness, remains deeply grateful for the care and treatment she received for lung cancer.
She is appealing to people across Scotland to gift their time this Christmas by helping at the charity’s shops.
Mrs Chisholm, a previously healthy non-smoker, was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in May 2017 after almost two decades of work with the charity.
She underwent major cardiothoracic surgery at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary to remove a tumour and part of her right lung. Now cancer-free and back on the shop floor, she said: “It has made me feel even closer to the people I’m determined to help.
“It was a frightening time, but the reason I’m here to enjoy special times with the people I love is through advances in research.
“I’m so grateful for my treatment. If the doctors hadn’t discovered it early I dread to think what could have happened. I want everyone else to have such a positive outcome and a way to help make that happen is to raise more vital funds.”
Some 3500 volunteers have not returned to Cancer Research UK shops since June, including many dedicated volunteers hit by ill-health. The charity needs immediate help to keep shops running at full capacity in the lead-up to Christmas.
Around 32,400 people are diagnosed and 16,100 die of cancer each year in Scotland, but through research, survival has doubled in the UK since the 1970s.
Mrs Chisholm, whose grandchildren Lily (6) and Lexi McColl (9) raised £430 for Cancer Research UK with a sponsored walk, added: “I’m so proud of my grandchildren and love spending time with them. The shop is a great place to be and I’d love for people to consider volunteering.”
For more information, visit cancerresearchuk.org/shopvol
