Helping My Mum Through Her Battle with Cancer

My beautiful mother, Tania, was diagnosed with cancer in December last year and has been out of work since then, coming up on 10 months now. Up until this month, she has sustained herself on holiday pay that she accrued over 10+ years at her minimum wage job.

She has been informed by her oncologist that she will be out of work until February 2025 - though her accrued holiday pay ends this September, leaving her with no income. She was also hit with an unforeseen $200 (£100) increase in rent last May, which could not have come at a worse time.

With no savings or assets to fall back on, my mother requested early access to her superannuation, though this has still not been anywhere near enough to cover her cost of living and will leave her with even less to fall back on in ongoing years. Her expenses amount to roughly $3000 (£1,500) a month for rent, bills, groceries and medical related costs. I have set the fundraising goal to $20,000 (£10,000) to support her through her time out of work. It would be a dream to come anywhere close to that.

Everything I am is down to my unique, hilarious, kind, and fabulous mother, who worked tirelessly to raise myself and my two sisters on her own amidst years of abuse at the hands of my now absent father. She is my biggest inspiration, best friend and ultimately a woman who deserves a good life. She is 62 years old, she lives alone and currently has no financial support available. It breaks my heart to see the unnecessary suffering she has endured and I would do anything to ease some of the stresses of her current situation.

While it has been an absolutely crushing year since we have known about my mother’s cancer, it has frustrated me to see that there has been very little to no financial support from the government she pays taxes to, nor the workplace that she has given over a decade of her life to. After she fights this uphill battle, I would adore for my mother to actually be able to take some of the holiday she worked so hard to attain over the last decade.

My mum doesn’t know I’m putting this together as she would find it very difficult to acknowledge that we are at a point of needing to ask for help. It would mean the world to provide her some financial stability, so that she has one less thing to worry about through this extremely difficult time.

I am aware of the cost of living crisis and hardship many people are currently facing and respect that not everyone is in a position to help out. Any amount donated would mean the world to me.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this ❤️