Harborough mum battling back from breast cancer has seen her fundraising drive crash through the £7,000 barrier

An indomitable Harborough mum battling back from breast cancer has seen her fundraising drive for a critical charity crash through the £7,000 barrier.

Abigail Rees, 41, said she set out to raise £1,000 for the Breast Cancer Now cause after they backed her to the hilt as she fought the disease.

The jubilant farmer is now celebrating generating about £7,200 for the high-profile charity as she saluted hundreds of local people as well as Harborough businesses for getting behind her.

Abigail, who runs Eyebrook Wild Bird Feeds at Rectory Farm at Great Easton, said: “I’m almost lost for words by just how money we have all raised together.

“It’s just incredible that we have already made seven times the amount of money we set out to bring in.

“Every penny will be going to an absolutely brilliant charity, Breast Cancer Now, so we are very grateful to everybody who’s helped us.”

The mum-of-three said they held a tea and cake party in a giant barn at their farm one Saturday afternoon to kickstart the charity goldrush.

“We ended up selling 296 tickets – demand just rocketed through the roof.

“We also staged a raffle, which went down a storm.

“We sold over 3,000 tickets and raised £3,033 from that alone,” said Abigail, who operates Rectory Farm with her sister Fay and her husband.

“Hundreds of people turned out for the tea party – and they just loved it.

“It was a huge success on so many levels.

“People were thrilled to get together again and catch up with each other in a big safe outdoors space after being locked down for so many months.

“The atmosphere was fantastic, it seemed as if the entire local community had rolled up!

“And, of course, we have managed to raise so much cash for Breast Cancer Now at the same time.

“We pulled in about £6,800 from the party alone.

“We’ve also had donations totalling over £300 pour in since to top up the total to well over £7,000.

“It’s just astonishing – and we can’t thank people enough for their outstanding support.

“Somebody just dropped by yesterday and chipped in another £100, people have been so generous.

“We are giving so much money to Breast Cancer Now that we’ve been able to specify where our cash goes,” added Abigail.

“We have asked for it to be ploughed into cutting edge research to try to discover better medicines and treatments for people who have this terrible disease.”

Abigail also paid tribute to a host of Harborough businesses who donated prizes for their star raffle.

They included Welland Valley Feeds, A Farley Country Attire, The Sun Inn at Great Easton, Lillyford Mill Jewellery, Ashley Farm Shop, Lotts of Wine, Joules Seconds, Parsons Nursery Billesdon and Barley & Rose Stoughton.

Talking about her own frightening breast cancer ordeal, she underwent six bouts of chemotherapy and 15 rounds of radiotherapy two years ago.

“It was a horrific time and Breast Cancer Now were a wonderful support to me and my family.

“The charity carries out world class research.

“So I am so pleased that we can all do our bit across Harborough to help fund their lifesaving work,” said Abigail.

“I’m OK now although I’ll be on medication for the next five to 10 years.

“My energy levels are getting back up now and I’m having regular health checks, the NHS have been top class.

“It’s been hard.

“But with the unstinting support of my family, friends, our fantastic community and Breast Cancer Now I’m getting there.”

You can find out more about Breast Cancer Now by visiting their website here: https://breastcancernow.org