A sell-out charity event to celebrate the life of an “inspirational” New Longton mum-of-two raised more than £4,000 for Rosemere Cancer Foundation’s 20 Years Anniversary Appeal.
Held at Brindle Distillery, Brindle, it was attended by 170 guests, among them many family members and friends of Louise McParland, who died of a rare form of lung cancer aged just 41-years-old in January.
A fitness fanatic who had never smoked, Louise had been told her condition was terminal in early 2017 but the prognosis didn’t stop her running last year’s Edinburgh Marathon with husband Daniel to raise funds for Rosemere Cancer Foundation or cajoling family members to join her and Daniel in taking part in last spring’s Kentmere Trail Race for the same cause.
It also didn’t stop her from launching a new business with friend and fellow mum-of-two Gillian Bartlett, of Much Hoole. Together they founded Copa Fizz, a novel mobile drinks company serving Prosecco and gin from a bar fashioned from a converted authentic Piaggio truck – very different from the financial sector in which they had both previously worked.
It was Gillian who organised the Brindle celebration at which guests were entertained by two local female vocalists, Catherine Sullivan, of Leyland, and 16-year-old Eve Birtwistle from Bolton, who both donated their time.
They were also able to tuck into a Rosemere pizza, made especially in Louise’s memory by the Travelling Pizza Company to include a Rosemere Cancer Foundation donation, and to raise a toast to her with a fruity pink gin, again made just for the event by Brindle Distillery to support the charity under a Copa Fizz label.
Gillian said: “It was a fantastic evening. I tried to say a few words about Louise but it was too overwhelming. She was truly inspirational and I am so glad we were able to help Rosemere Cancer Foundation as it is a cause that was so close to Louise’s heart.
“I would like to thank everyone who made it such a success – guests and suppliers. It was a sell-out but I could have sold more tickets had there been more space. My plan is therefore to hold an annual Rosemere charity event.”
Rosemere Cancer Foundation’s 20 Years Anniversary Appeal is funding a trio of ground-breaking projects at Rosemere Cancer Centre, Lancashire and South Cumbria’s regional specialist cancer treatment centre at the Royal Preston Hospital, to mark the 20th anniversary of its opening.
They include bringing the most advanced robotic surgical system on the market to the centre, making it the first in whole of the North of England and only one of three centres in the entire country to have such a piece of kit.
