Pandemic can't stop Stewkley's super-fundraiser reaching £100,000 target for Macmillan

When lockdown measures were ushered in in March, Fiona Phimester, 46, who has gained a reputation as Macmillan’s de facto representative in Stewkley, refused to let the pandemic blow her off course.

Just a few months into the future lay the November deadline for her decade-long fundraising challenge, which had been chosen to mark ten years since she lost her mum to brain cancer, aged just 63.

Fiona has never forgotten the ‘magic’ touch of the two Macmillan nurses in Inverness who did everything to make her mum, Nancy Campbell, feel comfortable in her final months. She has been raising money for Macmillan’s vital cancer support services in their honour ever since.

She said: "My mum was diagnosed with brain cancer in April 2010 and the support we received from the Macmillan services in Inverness was just amazing.

"She had two Macmillan nurses – Brian and Susan. Susan looked after her when she was in hospital and Brian would look after her at home. We didn’t realise how much power and clout Macmillan had until we were receiving their services.

"Whatever Brian recommended it would just happen immediately, as if by magic. For example, she’d been assigned a social worker to help her adapt her house, but it was difficult to get anything done. Brian would come along and you’d have people putting up rails or adapting the shower and bathroom to make life a little easier for mum.

"He had an amazing power to come in and make things happen. When you’re going through a stressful time, you don’t want to be making numerous phone calls and he made it as easy and simple as possible. It was great to know he was there."

A global pandemic was not enough to deter the part-time cook - who describes herself as ‘stubborn’ - from devising new ways of raising funds for the charity, especially as it relies on public donations for 98% of its income and has experienced a sharp drop in support during the coronavirus.

With the backing of her local community, husband Will and two sons Finlay and Patrick, Fiona launched a lockdown curry service, held a takeaway pizza night, walked 26 miles with friends, organised two yoga and wellbeing days at Ascot House - a local National Trust property - and continues to curry favour locally by selling cakes to order.

On September 5, just five months after national restrictions made mass gatherings like her legendary ‘Macmillan Bacon Butty Morning’ impossible, Fiona hit the six-figure total she’d been aiming for – and just kept going.

The money raised, which is equivalent to funding a Macmillan nurse for more than a year-and-a-half, will be split between specialist cancer services based in Buckinghamshire and the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, where her family hails from.

Fiona’s accomplishment has landed her a spot in the Macmillan record books at a time when the charity is needed more than ever by people living with cancer, who remain anxious and uncertain about their treatment as climbing Covid-19 cases threaten to disrupt cancer care in virus hotspots.

Financial worries have also become increasingly common for people living with a diagnosis, as the routine costs of cancer leave one in three people in the East of England facing severe money worries.

Looking back, Fiona said: "I held my first event for the charity in our small village hall and raised about £400. I showed my mum the photos the week before she passed away in November, and since then, the sky’s been the limit when it comes to finding new ways to support Macmillan.

“The day we finally hit our target was a crazy one. We’d just had our second yoga and wellbeing fundraiser at Ascot House, swiftly followed by a takeaway pizza night later that evening, but I didn’t want to announce we’d done it until everyone had left. Unbeknown to me, my family and a few friends had gathered in the kitchen to surprise me with flowers and a bottle of champagne, which we wasted no time cracking open!”

“It was a great feeling, especially this year, when the coronavirus has made it such a challenge to come up with new ideas that are safe and comfortable for everyone. Raising £100,000 is something I never would have expected, but I’m pleased we’ve made it. It’s been fun and I enjoy doing it, but there’s no way I could have achieved this by myself - there are so many Robins to my Batman."

Fiona’s fundraising efforts had been due to receive a royal seal of approval after the local Deputy Lieutenant nominated her to attend the Queen’s Garden Party, which was later called off. Her teatime appointment with the monarch may be on hold for now, but she still feels “honoured” to have received an invitation.

In the meantime, she’s keeping herself busy running her Macmillan cake box delivery service and inspiring others beyond the Bucks-Beds border to help people living with cancer get the support they need.

Now that her Bacon Butty Mornings have gone global, reaching the far-off shores of Scotland, Ireland and even Italy, she can rest assured that her ten years of fundraising will continue long into the future.

Melanie Humphreys, Macmillan Fundraising Manager in Bedfordshire said: “Everyone would have understood if Fiona hadn’t managed to reach her extraordinary target this year, but she has reinvented the wheel - and then some - to make it happen. She is one of only a handful of individual Macmillan supporters to have raised more than £100,000 in just ten years, helping us to improve the lives of countless people with cancer.

“Macmillan has experienced a sharp drop in income this year, just as people living with cancer worry about disruption to their care and treatment, find themselves isolated from their support networks and face more financial hardship as the pandemic continues.

“Our services are already in high demand, with the level of need set to get even greater. In a recent report, Macmillan warned that as many as 50,000 people in the UK are living with undiagnosed cancer as a result of the disruption caused by Covid-19.

“This means that in addition to the growing number of people who already need our support, there will be an influx of people having cancer diagnosed at a later stage who have more complex medical and support needs. Our aim is to be there for everyone – practically, emotionally and financially – when they’re diagnosed, but that’s impossible without supporters like Fiona.”

The Macmillan Support Line is open 7 days a week between 8am-8pm on 0808 808 00 00.

To donate to Macmillan Cancer Support, visit www.macmillan.org.uk/donate or call 0300 1000 200.