A support group for women with gynaecological cancer has raised an astounding £25,000 for the Cancer Appeal. 

Dorchester based group, GO Girls! raised the sum in less than a year to help fund a counselling suite for cancer patients.

GO Girls! Vice Chair, Teresa Wolff said: “So why did we choose to fund a counselling suite? We know from the feedback we receive that having that holistic support is vital - the quiet space to adjust to a life-changing diagnosis”. 

GO Girls! member, Patricia Skilbeck, 59, said she lost her sense of self and found herself in a very dark place after her cancer diagnosis. 

“I feel that if someone had been able to find the time to offer holistic support that nurtured my emotional health I might have fared better,” she said.

The money was raised through a series of fundraising events and will go to support the funding of a counselling suite in the new cancer building at Dorset County Hospital.

GO Girls! Chair, Hilary Maxwell says: “My greatest thanks go to our GO Girls! team - most of whom who are very sick, but turned out rain or shine to support our events.” 

Teresa added: “We must never forget those GO Girls! that sadly lost their battles to cancer during our campaign and in whose memories, we continue to work tirelessly – Jan Hinton – our total inspiration.”

The Cancer Appeal is aiming to raise £1.75m in total to develop cancer facilities for patients in North, South and West Dorset and bring radiotherapy services to Dorchester for the first time. 

They hope to build bespoke spaces to transform the experience of cancer patients by enabling counselling and support services to be offered in rooms right next to the Outpatient areas.

Hilary added many more people will be diagnosed with cancer and the new radiotherapy suite was vital to the community. 

Patricia Miller, Chief Executive of Dorset County Hospital said: “This is a tremendous donation from a small team of dedicated fundraisers. Hilary, Teresa and all the Go Girls! team have worked incredibly hard and I would like to thank them all for their efforts in support of the Cancer Appeal.”

Sir Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset, said: “The GO Girls! team have added a significant sum to the Cancer Appeal – a team of volunteers who are themselves not well – it just shows what can be achieved with passion and dedication – well done to the GO Girls!”

The Go Girls! have now set themselves a new target of £50,000. To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/just10gogirls. 

To learn more about the GO Girls! work, visit www.gogirlssupport.org or contact admin@gogirlssupport.org.