READLEY was founded in autumn 2015 by Samantha Cox, earlier that year Sam had lost her Dad to mesothelioma and this inspired her to set up a support group in the north-east for patients suffering with mesothelioma and asbestos related diseases.
In 2018 Sam asked Joanne Murray to come on board and help her as Sam could see the desperate need for more support in the north-east of England. Our area has one of the highest incidences of mesothelioma in the UK.
READLEY needed funds to sustain its growth and development. Joanne’s Dad, Robin Smedley had passed away in the late summer of 2017 with mesothelioma and had himself received a lot of support and friendship from READLEY during his mesothelioma journey.
Through connections with the Smedley family it was planned that READLEY would host a large scale ball in order to raise funds and awareness for this devastating disease. The ball was a huge success it raised tens of thousands of pounds and also more importantly raised awareness through its national advertising & publicity campaign for the ball. Due to connections made at the ball we were then able to introduce READLEY and explain about mesothelioma to a international company with a base in the north east working within the oil and gas industry who decided to continue sponsoring READLEY for the following year!!
More fundraising events were planned in which we split our profits 50-50 with Mesothelioma UK meaning that the charity was also receiving vital funds from our north-east efforts towards research into the disease and development into services within the north-east of England, thus benefiting patients locally.
Through our newly forged connections, relations with local industries really began to grow but more importantly we began to spread the word about mesothelioma and the devastating effects of asbestos. Through our fundraising events we are able to raise awareness of mesothelioma and the profile of our support group which in turn raises awareness of the help and support available for patients with mesothelioma. When you receive a diagnosis of mesothelioma and think that you are alone , that is the loneliest place in the world, but to realise that there is a huge support network out there and to be introduced to trials & treatment through Mesothelioma UK is such a comfort and we feel that through our fundraising we are both providing vital funds for research and growing awareness and support, both for patients with mesothelioma and also to education the people in our region, most of whom, have never heard of mesothelioma!
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