THE mother, wife and son of the late Alex Wilson, who passed away from brain cancer earlier this year, are delivering some much needed donations to Enniskillen’s Cancer Research UK shop as it gets back to business following the easing of coronavirus restrictions last Friday (April 30).

In memory of her beloved husband, Alex, Jade Wilson is appealing for ‘lockdown de-clutterers’ to dig out and drop off donations at the store on Townhall Street.

She was joined at the reopening of the Enniskillen store by her seven-year-old son, Ryan, and Alex’s mother, Kim Wilson.

Staff and volunteers are rolling up their sleeves to try and claw back millions of pounds in lost sales, but they urgently need help to fill the shelves with new or pre-loved bargains, fashion one-offs and homeware treasures once more to help fund research that could save lives.

Cancer Research UK expects to see its fundraising income decline by a staggering £300m over the next three years, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, with one person diagnosed with cancer every hour in Northern Ireland, the charity is determined to continue its mission.

Breakthroughs

Jade knows first-hand just how important new breakthroughs and discoveries are to help more people survive. Sadly, this was not to be for Alex, who lost his battle with cancer just a few months ago.

“Alex was diagnosed in 2018 with a brain tumour and we were shattered when told it was incurable,” said Jade.

“However, it is thanks to research that we were given more time with Alex,” she added.

“He was treated with a drug called Temozolomide – Cancer Research UK led the development of this drug, and it is now used worldwide. It gave us two more years, during which time we were able to get married and make lots of memories.

“I hope that, like me, people will be inspired by the charity’s commitment to carry on beating cancer and put their lockdown tidying to good use – they really could help to save lives.”

Every bag of donated items could raise up to £25 or £31 with Gift Aid if the donor is a UK taxpayer.

Its customers are a critical part of helping to get research back on track, so strict measures are being followed at the Townhall Street store to ensure a safe shopping experience.

Now that the shop’s doors are open once again, manager Belinda Moncrieff is hoping for a sunnier outlook and is specifically calling for donations of men’s, women’s and children’s summer clothing, ready for a ‘Great British Staycation’.

She said: “Covid-19 has hit us hard. Our shops typically contribute more than £25 million each year to vital research, so we’re grateful to Jade and Ryan for rallying the community to help us fight back.

“We’re calling on everyone who’s had a spring-clean, wardrobe detox or cupboard clear-out in lockdown to please bag up and bring in any unwanted items.

“Right now, we need quality clothing and shoes, ideally for this season, as well as homeware, books and accessories to help keep our tills – and bargain hunters – busy.

“Most important of all, the sale of these items helps to ensure we can keep making progress for people with cancer.”