A BREAST CANCER survivor’s hopes of raising thousands for charity have been dented after a sponsor backed out of a charity calendar.
Now she is looking for businesses to step up to help cover the costs.
Jamie-Marie Hemming from Yateley, has been organising a charity calendar in aid of Breast Cancer Now, after she recovered from the disease herself.
Ms Hemming was diagnosed with breast cancer at 37. After a mastectomy and treatment, she rediscovered strength in herself through CrossFit, a high-performance sport, at her local gym In2Training Farnham.
Her calendars were due to be printed on Tuesday, but her sponsor pulled out of their deal.
“I got a call on the day they were due to be printed and was told that the CEO said no to the sponsorship.
“I had fundraised £900 to cover some of the cost of printing, and my sponsor was going to donate £1,250.
“I had to pay the £1,250 out of the pre-order sales. This money is all meant to be going to Breast Cancer Now, and not to cover the cost of printing.
“I did have a bit of a cry about it, but I’m okay now.”
Ms Hemming is desperately searching for a local sponsor to help her cover the cost of the charity calendars.
Reflecting on making the calendar, she said: “We made it is record speed, we did it in 14 weeks from start to finish as we wanted to get it out in time for Christmas.
“My good friend Giles Holloway — who is one of the models in the calendar — came up with the idea.
“The boys in the calendar represent everything I had to be when I was going through breast cancer. Each month of the calendar is a different word such as invincible, resilient and positive.
“These were all the things that every woman diagnosed with breast cancer has to be.
“CrossFit has really taught me how to strong again. It wasn’t until I was surrounded by the power and strength [the boys] embodied that I fully understood that I was, in fact, one of them.”
“I can’t thank my wonderful photographer Paul from Burton Media, and my editor Mathew from by_Mathew for all their help. They have given up days of their working week to help me produce this fantastic calendar.”
Ms Hemming will be selling her charity calendars at Wokingham Winter Carnival this Sunday. They are also available to buy online at: https://www.crushingcancer.co.uk
