When I began the first Pants shop in 2009 in what was the Post Office in Killigrew Street Falmouth, I took a leap of faith opening a shop with no knowledge of shops or business but I knew I wanted to raise awareness of pants area cancers and stop people going through what I went through when I had womb cancer in 2007. My treatment at the Royal Cornwall Hospital was wonderful and I owe my life to the surgical team led by Mr Olidepo. I then was so lucky to have Mr Tito Lopes, a world expert in gynaecological cancer, to follow me up afterward and it was during one of the sessions with him I told him how I wanted to set a Charity up and would he be involved ?. He asked for a mission statement and the rest they say is history. The entire team supported me in so many ways; in their pants for photos, talking at Health Fayres, Christmas markets and serving in the Pants shops, and being advisors on the first website and so much more. at one time they all came to the CancerRehab centre to regain fitness with Steve Winnan’s encouragement. He undertook important research in partnership with them, looking at the effect of exercise on recovery from cancer.

On my own, I knew I needed media help, and met Chris and Rachel Kevern who made fantastic pictures the media used. The early calendars and the fact that we had many musicians come and play in the shops, attracted South west TV to film in the shop twice and as a result the donations never stopped. Radio Cornwall ran with events and interviewed me and Mr Lopes and Judith the Cancer Nurse Specialist as they answered questions live on air. The lovely Joy Robinson who sadly died of womb cancer, made sure the Radio knew everything we were up to.

So the donations piled in from Somerset to Lands End and I soon realised I needed more space and in 2010 the first Unit at Ponsharden opened. Then another and then another. A series of dreadful events meant that I had to downscale the Hubs and we struggled to survive, but so many staff worked round the clock to keep it all going and refute the dreadful things former employees were saying about me. It would have been easier to sit in an office and claim Grants as this has been a full time job as a Volunteer CEO, but if I hadn’t had the shops we would not have been so well known. When I speak at breakfast groups around the county and beyond, and begin asking if they have heard of Pants the regular response is “heard of you, you furnished our flat, or these shoes, jacket, bag I am wearing all came from pants!”

Steve Winnan came into my life when I needed a fitness trainer – being fat undoubtedly contributed to my getting cancer. When Steve finally got me running and I was able to breathe and speak at the same time, I said that this had helped me so much how about we offer it to other Cancer patients and Steve did a post Graduate course at St Thomas hospital in London and became the first CancerRehab trainer in the West country and has been helping transform cancer patients into survivors ever since. It is free to cancer survivors and watching them develop their fitness is a great joy for me.

We had a wonderful Cafe at Waterside adjacent to the CancerRehab centre but after 3 years I had to let it go as I just didn’t have enough help. We had great food from Zaher our Syrian refugee, and once he left to start his own business in Truro there was no point in continuing.

Will Keating has hosted wonderful music nights and I was probably the oldest person to gain a premises license to sell alcohol and I so loved the place- it was unique, but I couldn’t invest the time in it it needed.

So here I am 13 years later, still alive and expecting to be for sometime yet, still passionate about stopping others going through it and always hopeful for the future.

There are plans for Make do and Mend to use our charity shops stock to prevent landfill, we continue to encourage staff who have had problems to work with us and develop their skills and have the most amazing staff group at the moment so committed to making it all work even though times are hard for shops in the High Street everywhere. I dream of a fund raising group, of people sharing their skills and knowledge to apply for Grants for us, and for people to throw themselves from heights abseiling ,and dancing and doing tea’s and so much more so that this fabulous little charity continues to provide a great resource in Falmouth and Penryn and to make more worldwide contacts with people of similar aims.

My grateful thanks to everyone who has helped us along the way and special thanks to our LandLords- Miller commercial acting for Sainsbury’s, Chris Spencer who has been so supportive, Bil Hudd Landlord at Waterside who has also been so supportive, all our staff over the years and of course our many customers and people who donate to us non stop at Ponsharden.and lastly Kath Mazzella who raises awareness in Australia who helped me understand just how much the vaccine for the Human Papilloma is vital for our young people- Kath had a radical vulvectomy because of the HPV and I see what she endures.