A terminally ill woman from Southport plans to host a huge charity concert to raise vital funds to fight cancer.
Despite knowing she has just a matter of months to live, 59-year-old Una McBride says she cannot wait to host an evening of ‘sparkle and joy’ at St George’s Hall to raise vital funds for a number of charities including Queenscourt Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Una, who is currently battling liver and bowel cancer, has just left hospital following her fourth course of aggressive chemotherapy and is already busy planning the musical extravaganza later this month.
The event, which takes place on Saturday April 23, will be held at St George’s Hall and stars such names as international soprano Rachael Russell, crooner Asa Murphy and choirs from across the North West.
The celebratory event, which organisers hope will raise at least £10,000 for charity, is the brainchild of Una, who refuses to give up in the face of adversity.
A buoyant Una, who has only just left Southport Hospital, spoke about her hopes and aims for the event, which she wants to turn into an annual fundraiser.
She said: “This concert is to honour the women battling cancer and the organisations that support them.
“It will be a glittering event and we hope everyone encourages all their friends and family to come along on the night.
“The aim is to spread some sparkle and joy – it has after all been quite a tough time of late.
“I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in August 2014 and told I had four months to live. Two years later I’m still here but after four bouts of very aggressive chemotherapy and the cancer spreading to my liver, I’ve been told that I now have just a matter of months to live.
“So I want to sparkle now. I want to host this night to raise as much as possible for Queenscourt, who have looked after me, and Macmillan cancer support as well.
“The Sparkle concert is really the culmination of a lot of work from a number of people – the idea came for it after the sheer amount of shocks I have had in the last two years.
“When I was told that I had four months to live it was hard to get my head around but now, while I’m able to, I want to give something back and say thank you to the organisations that have helped me.
“I want this fundraiser to raise as much as possible for Queenscourt Hospice and Macmillan – they are two wonderful organisations that do an awful lot for many people.
“What is so important as well is to make this event affordable so they can attend something like this and spread some sparkle! It is all about the sparkle.
“It is a tough journey for anybody to go through something like this and it is not realistic to stay positive all the time – I crash and burn many times but always come back with a massive sparkle.
“My choice is to host this sparkle night as a way of dealing with the diagnosis and if I can spread some joy, make people smile and raise a few quid too then it’s great!”
The event takes place at St George’s Hall Concert Room, Liverpool on Saturday April 23.
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