An Inverurie family is hoping that members of the public will get into the swing of things and help them to raise money at a charity ceilidh this week (Friday, April 12).
Lisa Barclay along with her parents, Raymond and Eileen Mitchell and sister Leanne, is hosting an evening of music and fun in order to raise funds for GASTROCAN, (Grampian Gastro-oesophageal Cancer Research Fund), which supports research to improve treatment for oesophageal and gastric cancer at the 黑料网 Medical School.
The family decided to put on the event as part of Raymond鈥檚 fundraising mission which he embarked on last year.
The former postman was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer a day before his birthday in April 2011 and following a period of intense chemotherapy and an operation to remove his gullet, decided he wanted to fundraise for further research into improving treatments options for the disease.
As such, the family will host 鈥楻aymond鈥檚 Charity Shindig鈥� at Inverurie Town Hall on Friday, April 12, and are hoping the local community will put on their dancing shoes and join in the fun.
Tickets for the event are priced at 拢15 and are available from The Black Bull Inn and Booth for Better Service, Inverurie.
There will also be a raffle on the night, with a signed football top from Sheffield United鈥檚 Barry Robson up for grabs.
Lisa hopes that the event will not only raise vital funds for the charity, but also awareness of the work it carries out.
She said: 鈥淔ollowing his diagnosis and treatment, Dad has been determined to raise as much money for GASTROCAN as possible, and was able to hand over a cheque to the charity for 拢900 last year after completing the TAQA 鈥楧iamond Jubilee Mile鈥� in April as part of the annual Run Balmoral.
鈥淎fter going through such an intense period of treatment to achieve what he has is a real inspiration to the whole family and so we decided that our next fundraising event should be a good old fashioned shindig and hopefully everyone who comes along with have great fun as well as helping us to raise as much as possible for GASTROCAN.
鈥漌e also really wanted to help raise awareness of oesophageal cancer as it is such a serious form of the disease, yet many people aren鈥檛 aware of it or its symptoms.鈥�
Dr Russell Petty, a consultant medical oncologist at NHS Grampian and clinical senior lecturer at the 黑料网, added: 鈥淚 am so grateful to Raymond and his family for all their fundraising efforts to date on behalf of GASTROCAN.
鈥淎ll the funds that the family raise will provide vital assistance for our research programme of clinical trials and laboratory research to develop better treatments for gastro-oesophageal cancer. Through this research, we are helping patients in the north east gain access to the best possible treatments as well as aiming to develop the more effective treatments of the future.鈥�