Marie Curie is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Great Daffodil Appeal this March, and St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay will be illuminated yellow in support of the campaign.
The Great Daffodil Appeal is Marie Curie’s biggest fundraising campaign and encourages everyone to give a donation and wear one of the charity’s daffodil pins during March.
The appeal has raised £80.4m since it first took place in 1986 and the money has enabled Marie Curie to provide more free hands-on care and emotional support to people with a terminal illness and their families.
As part of the campaign volunteers encourage people in the local community to give a donation and wear a daffodil pin, with collections taking place across the whole of the North East and Cumbria in town centres, supermarkets and local shops.
Charlotte Campbell, Community Fundraiser for Marie Curie in the North East, said: “The Great Daffodil Appeal makes it possible for Marie Curie Nurses to provide free hands-on care for people with a terminal illness. Every March millions of people across the UK show their support for our work by simply giving a donation to wear a daffodil pin
“To have the support of North Tyneside Council in this way, by illuminating such an iconic landmark in the North East is fantastic and will go a great deal towards raising awareness of the The Great Daffodil Appeal.”
North Tyneside Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn said: “The council is delighted to be helping Marie Curie and its Great Daffodil Appeal by illuminating St Mary’s Lighthouse for the whole of March.
“The charity provides invaluable support to a number of North Tyneside residents, and their loved ones, and we’re really pleased to show our appreciation to such a worthy cause in this way.”
Whitley Bay Fundraising Group member Debra Mitchell attended St Mary’s Lighthouse to see the illumination on Thursday, a day which marks a year since her sister Janet passed away in the Marie Curie Hospice in Newcastle and said: “Thursday is a poignant day for myself & my family.
“It’ll be a year to the day that Janet died in the hospice. Instead of it being a sad day I now have something to look forward to.
“Being a member of the Fundriasing Group gives me strength and I think she would be very proud.”
To volunteer to collect for Marie Curie and support the Great Daffodil Appeal call 0191 219 1241 or visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil.