Amazing Dance Fitness Marathon Breast Cancer Fundraiser

Say hello to lovely Amy who received her Little Lifts Radiotherapy gift Box through one of our hospital partners to support her during her breast cancer treatment. Recently she organised an amazing fundraiser to help support others!

Amy’s breast cancer story:

Amy was diagnosed with stage 1 grade 1 breast cancer on September 28th 2022. She underwent surgery to remove a lump and her lymph nodes on the 27th October 2022. Amy then began 23 rounds of radiotherapy treatment on Janurary 2nd 2023. She was treated at the West Suffolk Hospital and Ipswich Hospital Amy said ‘the staff were phenomenal, it’s been one of the toughest experiences of my life with much of my hardest and most darkest times being since I finished treatment.’

After receiving her gift Box Amy said:

‘At my first treatment plan meeting in December 2022, I was given a Box… in a bag which has Little Lifts written on it. My oncologist has just dropped a bombshell on me that I wasn’t having the 15 days of treatment I thought I was having but I needed an additional 8 days, just over another week on top.

The kids, eager to see what’s inside the Box helped me to open it up…

I was speechless…

A total stranger just got it… they knew what I needed they knew it would make me smile, they were saying ‘here is a lovely Box, full of love and thoughtful things to get you through!’

She added she felt ‘genuinely lifted – supported, understood and not completely isolated.’ She loved the thought behind each item and the lovely quality of them all. She particularly loved the MooGoo lotion and deodorant.

Amy’s Top Tips for breast cancer treatment:

Do things that you enjoy
Don’t be embarassed or afraid to ask for help
Stay hydrated throughout your radiotherapy – really hydrated

Amy’s support:

In April 2023 Amy applied to volunteer with us and became part of our amazing community! Amy offers her time fortnightly to support people with breast cancer by packing gift Boxes but she has gone above and beyond! Taking part in our Fashion Show, being interviewed for BBC Look East, volunteering to lead our warm up at our next Trail Run Event and now her incredible fundraiser!

Give me 4 – Dance Fitness Marathon took place on 28th January. Amy led her Tribe of fitness enthusiasts for 4 hours of non-stop classes aimed to challenge everyone. It was a wonderful opportunity for people to connect, have fun and also raise vital funds to help support more people with breast cancer.

Between Amy and those who attended, they raised a phenomenal £10,000!

We asked Amy about her amazing breast cancer fundraiser:

How did you get started?

‘I decided around last summer that I wanted to challenge myself to being physically and mentally well enough to be able to complete 4 hours of nonstop dance fitness… I’m definitely no runner (I can’t stand running) but I know that to complete a marathon in 4hrs is pretty amazing so I sort of created my own challenge by way of dancing it out! Plus I teach 4 very cool brands of dance fitness and wanted to incorporate those to make the event varied and fun!

I created the running order with the toughest class first, Totally Shredded – then came Konga from The Jungle Body, followed by the brilliant Clubbercise and we finished off with my very own Tribe ALL Fitness which is my own choreography I’ve created over the last 10 years of teaching group exercise.

I challenged each of my 40 participants to raise a minimum £100 for Little Lifts in the hope we may collectively hit the £5k mark.’

Why did you choose to support Little Lifts?

‘It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Little Lifts and as a beneficiary and a volunteer myself it was the perfect way to say thank you!’

What was the event like?

‘It took place in a quaint little village hall in Rickinghall in Suffolk, each participant received a surprise goodie bag I created for them with a special t shirt to remeber the day, some delicious boobie cookies donated by a fellow tribe member, make up and cosmetics from a local beauticians who wanted to support the event, pens, key rings and a personalised thank you card from me amongst other lovely bits. The event went really smoothly thanks to my team of helpers and we literally didn’t stop exercising for four hours!’

Can you describe it in three words?

‘Emotional, incredible, challenging!’

How does it feel to have completed such an incredible challenge and raised such an amazing amount of funds?

‘Well… I just couldn’t believe it when Rosa showed me the total – I was keeping everything crossed for £5k and to see an 8 at the start was such a shock, by the end of the event we’d hit £8,741.00 and it’s still growing we are currently well over £8,900. The reaction from everyone in the hall was just total shock and elation! It gives me goosebumps now thinking about it!’

How do you feel knowing the positive impact you have all
made?

‘Very very emotional because the reality is… that every penny of that goes to create something wonderful for people affected by breast cancer and that means there are still so many cases occurring all the time… but the pride we all felt and continue to feel is enormous – I know many of the tribe have been contacted by people wanting to donate because they received a Box and felt so grateful for it that they are only too happy to give back… that’s all I’ve wanted to do really… to give back to you!’

Any other comments you would like to make as well as anything else you would like to say about Little Lifts?

‘Just – thank you so much! We are really pleased to have raised so much!!’

Amy we cannot thank you and your tribe enough for helping us to spread kindness! We are blown away by your incredible support and all of you should be so proud of this phenomenal achievement. You have helped to support over 200 people receiving treatment for breast cancer!