Dorset charity pays mortgage for cancer-hit family

Sam Funnel said the charity kept a roof over her family's heads

A charity has helped a mother of three pay the mortgage after she was diagnosed with cancer.

The Dorset Cancer Care Foundation (DCCF) provides financial assistance to residents and their families who are struggling with money due to the disease.

It paid the mortgage of Sam Funnel, who had just given birth to her third child when she learnt she had breast cancer.

Mrs Funnel said the charity kept a roof over her family's heads.

Sam Funnel said she was "forever grateful" to the DCCF for the support her family received

She found out she had cancer following a trip to her GP for suspected mastitis.

She and her husband had just taken out a mortgage for their home.

Mrs Funnel said: "There was no more statutory maternity pay.

"We had used most of our savings, we had been to the food bank and the community fridges, we had exhausted everywhere that could help us.

"Everyone is three pay cheques away from having nothing. We weren't three pay cheques away. We were there."

During a hospital appointment, a nurse advised her to apply to the DCCF for help.

The DCCF paid the family's mortgage and Mrs Funnel said it "kept a roof over our head when we couldn't and for that I will be forever grateful."

Julie Barbary needed support after she gave up her job to spend more time in London with her daughter, who had liver cancer

The charity also helped Julie Barbary, whose 20-year-old daughter Sophie was diagnosed with cancer, while recovering from a liver transplant.

Ms Barbary was forced to quit her job because she had to spend so much time in hospital in London with her daughter.

The DCCF stepped in and paid her living costs to stop her spiralling into debt.

Ms Barbary said: "They were incredible. I literally received the money into my bank account within the week so that I could pay the arrears for my mortgage and cover my mortgage for the next couple of months, which was a huge weight off my mind."

According to the DCCF's website, the charity has helped more than 800 individuals and organisations.

It aims to deposit any financial aid into a bank account between two and five weeks of an application being submitted.

Inspired by the support she received, Ms Barbary has now become a trustee.

She said: "I see both sides. I see the stresses it causes family, when they're going though financial difficulties, but I've also seen, when we're doing fundraising events, how difficult it is to raise those funds."

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