Glamorous evening raises hospice funds

A ‘Hollywood Glam’ evening has raised nearly £4,000 for Mountbatten and KissyPuppy.

The evening, held at Bourne Hall Country Hotel, Shanklin, was organised by Amanda Delannoy, who was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer in 2014.

Amanda explained: “I have been volunteering for the hospice for six years, having been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer with bone metastasis in 2014 when I was 43. Metastatic breast cancer is incurable and I have been attending chemo every three weeks for nearly eight years.

“The hospice has helped me in many ways but essentially to accept my diagnosis and to try to live my best life with both the medical and mental challenges along the way.

“I hate having cancer; my motto is ‘get up, get your face on and smile’. I’m very good at this now even when I’m feeling low and scared. I tend to talk quite a bit sometimes as I think this helps me try and stop my brain being miserable and worrying as it never turns off. Side effects from drugs, and constant pain, have been hard to accept – the list is endless!”

Despite this, Amanda volunteers in the Mountbatten shop in Shanklin and organised the function at the hotel which is owned by her friend, Carol, whose husband, Jim, died of colon cancer aged 55 in 2020.
Amanda added: “We had 17 models, including Helen Barnes and Jenny Travatt, who are both suffering from the disease.

“It was a fantastic event and sold out very quickly with around 100 people attending. Everyone was so happy and afterwards they said it was amazing. It was such fun to do and organise with other Mountbatten volunteers. Special thanks go to our comperes, Gemma Smith and Cara Warrick, from Divalicious.”