Cancer patient raises thousands for 'vital' hospice

Laura Rowbotham originally aimed to raise £500 for LOROS but her total has surpassed £14,000

"My amount of tomorrows are limited, we know that, so it's about being positive and making the most of the time that I have got with family."

Laura Rowbotham has stage four cancer and has raised more than £14,000 for LOROS, a hospice charity where she says may "end up in time to come".

The 49-year-old, from Rothley in Leicestershire, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2021 and was told last year the disease "had become very much life-limiting".

Laura, who started fundraising for LOROS hospice with a target of £500, which she has significantly surpassed, said: "I can't control much in this. What I can control is my positivity."

Since receiving her diagnosis, Laura said she had been making "lots of different memories" with her two children.

"It's so important," she said. "I don't want them to forget me."

As part of her fundraising efforts, Laura was joined by her husband and children in a family triathlon on 20 September.

Her husband and daughter, eight, completed a 20-mile (32km) bike ride, while her 12-year-old son completed a one-mile (1.6km) swim.

'Heartwarming and overwhelming'

Laura completed a 10-mile (16km) walk with her friends as part of the challenge.

"We thought as a family it would be really nice to raise some money.

"Ten miles probably doesn't sound a lot, but for me, with my health condition, it is a lot and it was a lot.

"I felt honoured that [my friends] gave up their Saturday afternoon to walk with me. On my own it would've been hard work," she said.

After that, Laura said the donations "just kept coming in and coming in, which was amazing and heartwarming and overwhelming".

She said her diagnosis was "something that you never expect to hear being said to you".

"You never expect that you will have to relay that information to family and friends and small children," Laura added.

She said the disease had since progressed and she found out just before the walk that it had spread "a little further".

"We're awaiting more scans. So I'll wait and see what the results are from those," she said.

Laura says she always jokes about "having my positive pants on all the time" in the face of her illness

LOROS has marked its 40th anniversary this year with an elephant sculpture trail in Leicester.

However, the charity continues to face financial woes, and announced cuts to services in July in a bid to bridge a £2m income shortfall.

Laura said the work of LOROS was "very important" to her.

"I have been an outpatient at LOROS for a few years, going to different clinics there, pain management appointments and also having complementary therapies," she said.

"And I don't think that's a side of LOROS that a lot of people tend to know much about.

"From the hospice side of things, I had a friend who passed away there back in May, so I kind of saw first-hand the support that the LOROS team provide to families and friends."