A Birmingham charity will be able to expand its weekly choir session for women battling breast cancer after receiving a four-figure grant.
Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer has received £7,000 from the Foundation to support its popular choir.
The good cause was established in 2000 and spent 12 years raising funds for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, before turning its focus to the non-medical side of breast cancer, providing services to improve patient’s wellbeing during treatment.
It has raised more than £1 million for the QE’s Cancer Unit, helping to fund new medical equipment including two mobile mammogram trailers, with the latest coloured pink.
The choir meet every Thursday evening at MAC Birmingham, having started with 11 attendees they now host 32 members.
The group have recently released a charity single ‘Lean On Me’, which can be heard on Spotify or bought on iTunes and Amazon for 99p.
The grant awarded to the group was from the Wesleyan Foundation Fund and will enable the choir to expand to 50 members while funding the production of a music video for their new single.
Veronica Kumeta, Co-Founder of Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer, said: “When we set up the choir we had no idea of the wider impact it would have, it has become a support network and every woman in that choir is going through the same thing.
“In those two hours where we meet, the feedback we are getting is that it is the most glorious two hours, these girls totally forget about what they are going through.
“We’re making these people feel good about themselves again, getting them out of the house is really difficult but they know they are walking into a room where everyone understands how they feel.
“We would love to continue expanding the choir and with funding like this grant we believe we could easily reach 50 members. The funding has come in at the perfect moment.
“I’ve met so many wonderful women doing this for the last 17 years, there are a wide range of issues surrounding the patients which are not addressed in hospital, we try to provide that all important emotional support.”
Foundation Chief Executive, Tina Costello, said: “The work that Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer does, goes beyond the hospital and is crucial in supporting women and improving their wellbeing.
“We’re very pleased to have been able to donate this money to the charity to support their choir, which has a huge impact on the lives of everyone who attends it.”
For more information about Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer, click here.