Pink pony box: Community rallies behind mum with incurable cancer

Nation Cymru staff

A north Wales mum-of-three with incurable cancer says she is “absolutely overwhelmed” after a trailer firm launched a £40,000 fundraising campaign.

Ifor Williams Trailers has donated a striking pink horsebox to Fighting to be Heard, a volunteer-run breast cancer charity, with the top of the range model set to be raffled online.

Teaching assistant Lisa Jones, 40, who is living with secondary breast cancer, says the support will make a huge difference to families struggling with the financial impact of cancer.

The company has also backed the cause through a fundraising challenge by Jak Tyrer, the production manager of the firm’s Sandycroft site, who raised £12,814 by taking part in the Abersoch Olympic Triathlon in June.

Jak, 36, stepped up after hearing about Lisa’s health battle from her dad, Peter Morris, who works with him.

Lisa, from Mold, is a cofounder and trustee of the Fighting to be Heard charity that’s helped dozens of others facing the costs of the disease through its grants programme.

Jak stepped up to the challenge after hearing about Lisa’s health battle from her dad, Peter Morris, who works in after sales at the Sandycroft site.

Lisa, who’s now a trustee of the charity, said: “The donation and the kindness shown from Ifor Williams Trailers just makes me feel absolutely overwhelmed.

“We are so proud of what the charity stands for, especially because it is all voluntary and makes a huge difference to families who are struggling financially.”

Lisa, married to Rob and mother of Louisa, 18, Sasha, 17, and nine-year-old Aria, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2017, and a year later told she had primary breast cancer.

In 2019 she was told she had the BRCA2 genetic condition which makes developing cancer more likely, and in 2020 was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.

Her treatment for her triple negative breast cancer, which is the most aggressive form of the disease, has included various surgeries and chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

She said: “I have worked all my life, my husband works seven days a week, he is in construction.

“When I was really poorly, my husband used to have to have two days a week off to care for me and my kids, unpaid for six months.

“That’s the impact cancer can have on a family and its income.

“Fighting to be Heard has helped our family but more importantly it has allowed me to find people who understand what I am going through, it means I am not alone.”

The stage 4 cancer is incurable though treatment can prolong patients’ lives and Fighting to be Heard aims to spread awareness of the disease.

That awareness was boosted when Lisa was among a group of six representatives from the charity who were invited to a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in June, attended by King Charles.

They presented a copy of a book about the charity to the King, who announced in 2024 he was being treated for cancer, and another to pass on to the Princess of Wales, who has had her own cancer battle.

Lisa said: “The King took the book, in fact he got two, with one to pass onto Kate, the Princess of Wales, and that was wonderful.”

Mum-of-one Kathryn Gordon Orr, who co-founded Fighting to be Heard in 2023 and is chair of the charity, became involved in supporting cancer charities after losing a close friend to secondary breast cancer.
Kathryn, 51, from Liverpool, said: “From our surveys, we’ve found people are spending the grants on food, gas bills, basic necessities.

“The financial impact cancer can have on families can be horrendous.”

She added: “The reason we do this is we want to fight for change, fight for the person who feels unheard and unseen when they have cancer.

“It is about friendship, offering financial help and supporting families.

“Our stats show that 97.2 per cent of people say their cancer diagnosis has impacted them financially.

“We are so appreciative of what Ifor Williams is doing and what Jak has done in the triathlon.

“It is mind-blowing really. I think we all feel at the charity absolutely blown away by the donation, it is so kind.

“We have got the biggest pot of money we have ever had because of Jak and because of Ifor Williams Trailers and that will help so many families.

“People will be able to buy raffle tickets online to win the horsebox and our target is to raise £40,000.

“People can go on our social media to find out more and to buy online or go on our website for more information.”

The charity is also using social media to raise awareness of secondary breast cancer.

Jak Tyrer said: “Sadly I have lost friends and people close to me to cancer and I particularly wanted to help Fighting to be Heard because all the money raised helps families who really need it, they are all volunteers.

“What Fighting to be Heard does is unbelievable, their work is so important.

“There is so much commonality between us and the charity, what we resemble, they resemble.

“We are a family-run business and we are very proud of the work we do in the community and the difference we make.

“The donation of the horsebox came at a perfect time for us as a business because we have launched on our HBX range our Your Colour range, where customers can choose from 200 different colours.

“The donated horsebox is fully loaded with all the extras we can provide, it’s an HBX511 and we recommend it for horses over 16 hands.

“The model goes for about £13,000 normally and is the highest spec model you can go for, it looks the bee’s knees.”
Lisa’s dad Peter Morris said: “What the company and Jak have done is fantastic.

“I’m so happy they are helping the charity, it’s great.”

To buy a ticket go to https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/ticketing/ifor-williams-horse-trailer-raffle

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