Wendy Owens and Fiona Gordon, known as Bosom Buddies, held a Charity Ball which raised over £30,000. And on December 1st 2011, they handed over the cheque for over £30,000 to Gloria for the Caron Keating Foundation. To read the full story of click on Heading!

Wendy Owens and Fiona Gordon have been friends for over 10 years. In November 2009 Fiona was diagnosed with breast cancer. Just four months later Wendy was given the same diagnosis, two best friends being diagnosed at the same time was so shocking for them and all of their wider circle of friends. They both had to endure various operations, 6 months of Chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

One thing Fiona and Wendy discovered whilst going through the months of arduous treatments, was that because they were both on the same journey, they were able to give each other incredible support and comfort.  They understood how they both felt to experience the horrible side effects of the treatment. They shared the same fears and anxieties. When the road became rough, they were able to pick each other up and keep each other positive.

It is because of this experience that Wendy and Fiona decided to launch the Bosom Buddies Charity in 2012, where they will provide support to anyone experiencing the emotional and domestic difficulties that can arise during their journey through the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. They hope the charity will grow throughout the country, so whenever a women hears the terrifying news that she has breast cancer, she knows there is a Bosom Buddy just a phone call away.

The Ball was an incredible success, far exceeding Wendy and Fiona’s expectations. Gloria Hunniford was their guest of honor and was absolutely bowled over with the quality of the event and the fact this was their first ever Ball.

On November 2nd, Hard Rock Cafe once again supported the Caron Keating Foundation at an event held at the Natural History Museum. (click on Hard Rock link for more)

The whole outside of the bulding was splashed in pink for the occasion with the Caron Keating Foundation logo on one side of the impressive entrance with Hard Rock Cafe logo on the other. Even the famous dinosaur was pink for the night!!

Bonnie Tyler, Beverley Knight and the group Woman provided fabulous entertainment. Altogether the event raised an unbelievable £60,000.

Gloria and Caron’s Foundation are hugely grateful to all involved at Hard Rock for their extreme effort for putting together a night to remember. See slideshow of pictures below.

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We were delighted when Samantha Cameron very kindly played host at a private drinks reception at Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, December 6th 2011, in honour of the many generous supporters of our Foundation. What a fabulous evening it turned out to be. See slideshow of pictures  . . .

The Foundation received a letter from Crossroads Care, Weston-super-Mare to update us on how they have spent their Grant which we sent last December to be used with their Palliative & Terminal Care scheme. Here is a short excerpt.

. . . ‘With your generosity we have been able to provide 320 hours of palliative care and given support to five familes during this difficult period. An average of 6 hours per week has been provided to each family during (in general) the final 6-8 weeks of the life of the cared-for person. You will understand that it is difficult to judge when the end of life will come and we are as flexible as we need to be in such circumstance’ . .

An example of a letter of response to the Foundation’s donation to this Hospice.

Dear Gloria,

I enclose a copy of our latest Siblings Group News, highlighting the role of the Caron Keating Foundation for the funding of the fabulous weekend at the East Barnby Outdoor Centre as a part of the grant we received from you.

You really are making a difference to the lives of this often overlooked group of young people, for which we thank you!

Kind Regards

Alan Gardner

Trusts Fundraiser. Butterwick Hospice Care

The Christie Charitable Fund sent a letter along with their Successes Magazine to thank the Foundation for its generous grant and its support. See Beneficiaries section for more information.

Darent Valley Hopital very kindly sent a letter and their latest edition of their magazine to thank The Caron Keating Foundation for their donation of £20,000 which went to help pay for a Specialist Breast Ultrasound Machine. See Beneficiaries section for more information.

Last year the Foundation hosted a special evening featuring Sir James Galway. At this event Richard Caring (the well known restaurateur and co-owner of Top Shop) and Derek Crowson (a world-wide fabric manufacturer) generously donated between them £36,000 for an ‘Evening with Sir Cliff Richard’ at the famous La Columbe d’Or Restaurant in St. Paul de Vence, in the South of France. This event took place on Wednesday, May 18th 2011 and bearing in mind their fantastic donation to Caron’s Foundation, I think that the ‘pay off’ was that they and their other halves had a most enjoyable evening. Sir Cliff who is always a great supporter of our Charity had flown in from making his latest album in Memphis. Pictured above along with Sir Cliff are Richard Caring and his wife Jackie, Derek Crowson and his wife Dorothy.

The gorgeous ‘Footballers’ Wives and Eastenders actress, donated £75,000 from her winnings in Celebrity, Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  We, at the Foundation are grateful to Zoe for her support.

Gloria’s Angels series is being repeated and investigates the whole subject of ‘Angels’ which of course Caron implicitly believed in.  Each programme reconstructs an angel visitation in unusual circumstances.  All these stories are discussed by an Angel expert and a Professor of Psychology who is rather sceptical on the subject. Some of the people featured in the series described their experiences as ‘another force’. Caron always believed the finding a white feather was an angel’s calling card.