Coleraine Woman Marks 10 Years Cancer Free as Action Cancer Launches Legacy Campaign

Action Cancer has launched a new Legacy Campaign encouraging people across Northern Ireland to consider leaving a Gift in their Will to help safeguard the charity's life-saving and life-changing services for future generations. Each year, Action Cancer supports 15,000 people who are at risk of cancer or affected by a diagnosis, providing free breast and skin cancer detection, therapeutic support and health improvement services across the region. According to the charity's Create Your Legacy Guide, Gifts in Wills contribute an average of £500,000 annually, directly funding these vital services and enabling Action Cancer to reach more people in more locations. As the charity receives no regular government funding, Legacy Gifts play a crucial role in sustaining and expanding its work. Launching the campaign, Action Cancer Chief Executive Gareth Kirk said: "Action Cancer exists to save lives and support people across Northern Ireland at some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Gifts in Wills play a crucial role in ensuring our services remain free, local and accessible for future generations. Even leaving 1% of your estate can make a profound difference to the thousands of people we support every year." The campaign features the story of Coleraine woman Linda Wisener, a social worker who has spent more than three decades supporting families through adoption services. At the age of 44, after discovering a lump during a routine examination, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. She describes hearing the words "you have breast cancer" as devastating and overwhelming, and recalls struggling with anxiety and fear throughout her treatment. As someone used to helping others, she found herself unsure where to turn for support. Linda Wisener said: "Action Cancer provided a number of services for me for which I am really grateful. I did reflexology, which helped with sleeping and reducing anxiety, and counselling, which helped me put things in perspective. This year I am 10 years cancer free, something I wasn't sure I would see when I first received my diagnosis." She and her husband have now chosen to leave a Gift in their Will to Action Cancer. "I decided to leave a Gift in my Will because I was really grateful for the services that were available to me at a time when I needed them, and I wanted to do that for somebody else. It's my hope that another woman, another mother, another wife going through the same as what I did would get the services and the same kindness that I did from Action Cancer." Legacy income helps fund Action Cancer's wide range of free services. The charity screens 8,000 women every year through its digital breast screening service at Action Cancer House and on board the Big Bus, detecting six breast cancers in every 1,000 women screened, most at an early and more treatable stage. Its Skin Cancer Detection Service, the only one of its kind provided by a charity in Northern Ireland, delivers over 2,000 free consultations annually, makes more than 120 urgent referrals and detects more than 100 skin cancers each year. Action Cancer also provides the most extensive range of free mental health and therapeutic support for people affected by cancer in Northern Ireland, helping individuals reduce anxiety, improve sleep, develop coping strategies and enhance overall wellbeing. Legacy Gifts help secure a future where improved cancer awareness, prevention and support remain accessible to all. As part of the campaign, Action Cancer is offering supporters the opportunity to write or update their Will free of charge through the Free Wills Network, either online or with a local solicitor. The initiative is also being supported by a new radio appeal featuring a voiceover from Northern Ireland actor James Nesbitt, helping raise awareness of the vital role Legacy Gifts play in sustaining the charity's free services. To learn more about leaving a Gift in your Will to Action Cancer or to request a 'Create Your Legacy Guide', visit www.actioncancer.org/legacy or contact the Gifts in Wills team on 028 9080 3344 (option 2) or [email protected].