High Peak charity which raised £263,000 in memory son ends popular coffee mornings

Daniel Shacklock was admitted to the Adult Leukaemia Unit at Christie Hospital, Manchester in March 1994 aged just 19.

He was diagnosed with Myloid Leukaemia and underwent treatments including Chemotherapy, and Radiotherapy as well as stem cell treatment and a bone marrow transplant. Sadly Daniel died of a fungal infection of his liver and lungs and the transplant never got the chance to get established.

It was only fourteen months after diagnosis and he was just 20 years old.

As a way of thanking the staff who were so good to him Daniel’s parents, Joyce and John, set about fundraising and Daniel’s Light was founded.

By 1996 they had raised £2,000 for the Bone Marrow transplant Unit at Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children which was enough to buy three blood saturation monitors. Since then the fundraising has continued and since they have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for The Christie Hospital.

John died two years ago and Joyce from Furness Vale has now made the decision to stop the coffee mornings and big fundraisers.

She said: “I have been doing this now for 29 years and I’m not getting any younger.

“Myself and my wonderful volunteers have our own health problems and so I decided the time was right to wind down.

“Losing a child is something no parent should go through but setting up Daniel’s Light gave me something to focus on and it helped me to know our fundraising efforts were helping other families who were going through similar situations.”

Joyce said Leukaemia is the most insidious of all cancers, it cannot be seen, it cannot be touched, it cannot be operated on. It knows no boundaries, it does not discriminate, it has no respect for age, sex, fitness or religion.

Absolutely anyone can be struck down by this silent and aggressive invader she said.

But, it can be treated and forced into remission which Joyce said the family hung their hopes on.

Daniel had his fair share of treatments all aiming to bring his body into remission and Joyce said he did not complain and put his trust in the nurses and doctors completely.

“But things have changed so much since the mid 90s,” she said.

“Medicine has advanced and new research is being created all the time.

“It is wonderful to see there are different drugs now available to help patients and new treatment options as well, not just for Leukaemia but all types of cancer.”

Since Daniel’s Light was started there have been many fundraising campaigns including Light the Light in 1995, and from 1997 to December 2000 the Millennium Challenge was launched.

The charity set themselves a target of £60,000 for an accommodation suite which would allow families and spouses to stay close to the hospital while their loved one was receiving treatment.

And of course thanks to the support of friends, family, and those who shared the couple’s grief or had been on their own journey of loss the target was met.

In the middle of the Year 2000, Doctor Raj Chopra, the new Director of the Adult Leukaemia Unit approached Joyce and John and were asked they could redirect some funds to assist the unit in gaining the necessary accreditation for bone marrow transplants to be performed at the unit.

This started the Critical Care Campaign in 2001 and saw funds being raised to pay for a High Dependency Unit which was made up of various highly technical state of the art modules. A defibrillator and dialysis machine to name but two.

The NHS Trust agreed to man and maintain the unit, but the capital investment must come from other sources.

The cost of the unit was £250,000, of which ‘Daniel’s Light’ provided £100,000, with the additional funding being provided via other campaigns.

The headquarters of Daniel’s Light was based out of the dry cleaners Joyce and John ran in Whaley Bridge.

Joyce said: “People did so many wonderful things to raise the money over the years, everything from walking backwards from Lands End to John O’ Groats to children staying up all night to concerts, dances and afternoon teas.”

The focus of the spending was always to help the Adult Leukaemia Unit and so the consultants were asked regularly what equipment they needed which could range from special binocular microscope, computerised pumps or a cell separator and the fund would purchase it.

One of the regular fundraisers were the coffee mornings which were held at the Mechanics Institute in Whaley Bridge for decades.

The last one was held on November 11.

Joyce said: “It is with great sadness we have had our last coffee morning for the charity.

“A big thank you for the love and support that John and myself have received over the many years from our local community and beyond.

“Also a very big thank you to all of my ladies that have given their time and help to Daniel’s Light over the years since the charity started, you have all been wonderful.

“Since we started Daniel’s Light back in 1994, we have managed to raise a grand total of £263,000 to date for the Christie Hospital, of which I am sure Daniel would be extremely proud of.

“Do not worry, this is not a farewell from the charity.

“Although, it will be sad for me to reduce the work for the charity, I will continue with collection boxes and hopefully the boat trips on the fabulous Judith Mary Restaurant Boat.

“Thank you everyone for your support.”