\n \u201cI had to go to my parents\u2019 home and tell them I had cancer. It was the hardest thing I\u2019d ever had to do,\u201d she recalls.\n<\/p>\n
\n But, once Jacqui processed the news, something extraordinary happened. She decided to raise funds for a few home comforts for patients who, like her, were having treatment at Leeds Cancer Centre. Her fundraising appeal snowballed – and soon Jacqui was on a mission to raise a million pounds.\n<\/p>\n
\n A decade on, her charity appeal – Jacqui\u2019s Million – has reached the halfway mark. Thanks to Jacqui\u2019s tireless fundraising, her campaign has raised an incredible \u00a3500,000 for Leeds Hospital Charity.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui\u2019s remarkable milestone has been celebrated at an event at the Bexley Wing at St James\u2019s Hospital in Leeds, home to the cancer centre. Esther Wakeman, CEO of Leeds Hospitals Charity, paid tribute to Jacqui\u2019s Million, and Jacqui was presented with a glass memento honouring her achievements.\n<\/p>\n
\n The emotional event also featured a performance from Unity: the After Cure Choir, comprising cancer survivors.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui at the emotional celebration event. Image: Leeds Hospitals Charity\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui, 62, from Apperley Bridge, is a former choreographer who has worked with many local theatre companies and ran Debut Academy theatre school in Shipley for 20 years. In 1993 Jacqui found a small mole on her leg. It turned out to be melanoma and she had surgery to remove it. Then, 16 years later, she was given the devastating news that her skin cancer was back and was stage 4.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite undergoing three major operations, and having her right lung removed, Jacqui remained positive and threw herself into fundraising, determined to make a difference to thousands of cancer patients in the region. Her positive attitude takes positivity to a whole new level, and this has been at the heart of Jacqui\u2019s Million.\n<\/p>\n
\n A decade after setting up her appeal, Jacqui continues to have treatment every four weeks at Leeds Cancer Centre, a place which she says has become a second home. She calls the Bexley Wing \u201cmy favourite place\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui with medical equipment her appeal has funded\n<\/p>\n
\n Says Jacqui: \u201cThree operations on my leg ensured I could keep doing what I do best – dancing and choreographing!\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIn 2011 the melanoma had spread to my lungs. Chemotherapy kept it at bay but the tumour in my right lung escalated and in 2015 my lung was removed. Since then I\u2019ve continued with chemotherapy, other drugs for side effects and immunotherapy. Life expectancy for my condition is usually one year – and here I am, 14 years on.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen my cancer came back, I never thought for one minute that I\u2019d have my own fundraising campaign. But it became apparent what I could do using my own cancer story to help so many other patients. It\u2019s not only the fundraising, but spreading positivity and giving hope to others. Being the face of Jacqui\u2019s Million is an honour and privilege. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved together and I will bring in the rest of that well-needed million – it is my goal and legacy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui and fellow performers at Bare All – a show in which she and other cancer survivors ‘bared all’ on stage\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui has organised and hosted a huge variety of fundraising events over the years, as well as selling her Jacqui\u2019s Million merchandise at hospital stalls and providing peer support to other people living with cancer. In 2020, during the pandemic, she launched a BCB radio show, Cancer Journeys, interviewing people whose lives were affected by cancer, from patients to clinicians.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cDuring the time I\u2019ve spent at Leeds Cancer Centre as a patient, I\u2019ve seen firsthand the tremendous work they do,\u201d says Jacqui. \u201cThe money donated to Jacqui\u2019s Million is used in a variety of ways for cancer patients, from children to adults. We\u2019ve funded scalp coolers, drip stands, a lead nurse in anti-systemic cancer therapy, and refurbished the waiting room. People can see where every penny goes.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut Jacqui\u2019s Million is more than raising funds – it\u2019s also about peer support, something very precious to me. Helping patients and their families, giving them hope and positivity in their time of need.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui has won several awards over the years\n<\/p>\n
\n The money raised through Jacqui\u2019s campaign has funded equipment and projects that go beyond what the NHS can provide – from state-of-the-art equipment to help diagnose and treat patients to pioneering research and the smaller things that make an impact, like comfortable chairs for patients having chemotherapy.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jacqui has won awards for her fundraising, and was a regional finalist in the Pride of Britain Awards.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cJacqui is a truly remarkable woman,\u201d says Paul Watkins, Director of Fundraising at Leeds Hospitals Charity. \u201cIt is incredibly impressive for one person to single-handedly lead fundraising efforts of this magnitude and raise half a million pounds. So many people have got behind Jacqui because of her inspirational story and her positive outlook on life despite her cancer diagnosis.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cJacqui\u2019s fundraising has benefited so many people, from cancer patients to their loved ones and the dedicated staff caring for them. We\u2019re all immensely grateful for her dedication. Here\u2019s to the next \u00a3500k!\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Looking back over a decade of fundraising, Jacqui says: \u201cSo many things stand out, they have all made a huge impact, but some of my highlights are:\n<\/p>\n
\n * Publishing a children\u2019s sun awareness book, Adventures in the Sun with Edi, Hassan and Chen, with my friend Sandra Hudson, who was also a cancer patient;\n<\/p>\n
\n * The Mad Hatter\u2019s PositiviTEA Parties at Hollins Hall, Baildon;\n<\/p>\n
\n * Annual cabarets and productions I\u2019ve staged. Last year\u2019s Rock Nativity, in just one day, raised \u00a310,000. This year we\u2019re staging Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and I hope to raise another \u00a310,000;\n<\/p>\n
\n * My Jacqui\u2019s Million branded merchandise which I sell at Leeds Cancer Centre and my events;\n<\/p>\n
\n * My Cancer Journeys show on BCB Radio.\n<\/p>\n
\n * My peer support and positivity for fellow cancer patients and their families.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n *\u00a0For more about Jacqui’s\u00a0appeal visit jacquismillion.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI had to go to my parents\u2019 home and tell them I had cancer. It was the hardest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-311339","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-leeds","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114957979870074483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}