Just one year after the launch of an ambitious funding campaign, work is to begin on a new dedicated breast unit at Noble’s Hospital.
As fundraisers have already raised two thirds of the £1.5 million target construction is to start in earnest on Monday.
The start of building work coincides with Breast Cancer Month. Julie Stokes, chairman of the Manx Breast Cancer Support Group, said: ‘We want to thank everyone who has helped us so far. We still have a long way to go but we are certain we can achieve our goal.’
Mrs Stokes said they had received fantastic support from Sheila Dean of Equiom who organised two ladies’ lunches, the most recent raising £10,500. Other Manx companies who had lent support, she said, included Mannin Media, Manx Move, Claire Christian Couture, Heron and Brierley, Black Grace Cowley and others. Support has also come from the Eric and Marion Scott Trust and the Henry Bloom Noble Trust.
‘I think it’s fantastic that we can start the build during Breast Cancer Month. We never imagined we would be able to start so soon,’ Mrs Stokes said.
Supporters have so far sold 15,000 pin badges of the Isle of Man, available in pink or black, to support the fundraising effort. Charity members and nurses have just finished shooting their breast unit calendar which goes on sale in November and the group’s first anniversary ball is at the Mount Murray on November 1.