April update: Chantelle has had her surgery and is now at home recovering. She has stitches to the entire back of her left thigh and a drainage bottle and tube. She is currently bed bound as she can not navigate stairs, getting through her front door from the street took over an hour. Now the focus is on laying a driveway to the front so that once she is able to move around the house she wont be completely housebound.

There are two hospital appointments coming up which cost £100 each trip.

J&B turfing kindly donated the turf for the rear garden which is beginning to hold so soon the children will be able to play outside and hopefully soon Chantelle will be able to recover out there whilst watching the children play.

The outpouring of support has been very much appreciated from this family. They are just happy and relieved to have their mummy at home and the road to recovery can begin.

UPDATE: Following this first appeal Ipswich Borough Council have been out and made the rear steps and wall safe. The grass still needs to be rotivated if anyone can lend a hand with that. The turf has been pledged and the patio area still needs to be laid.

The driveway application has not been made yet as there simply are not enough funds. There is a time constraint from applying to having the work carried out.

Surgery was scheduled for 20th April but it has been postponed twice now and is currently 23rd April, whilst the children are still on school holidays. Whilst the tumour has shrunk 2cm with the treatment, 30cm still needs to be removed from Chantelle's leg. The surgery is only still the beginning of the journey, from talking to other survivors of this cancer the road to recovery is long and hard and will require a lot of physiotherapy to be able to walk again, it has been helpful to hear from other patients so that Chantelle knows she is not alone and to have a better idea of what is to come.

******** EASTER : GOOD FRIDAY ********

Howard Garnham on behalf of The Vespa Club of Ipswich has stepped forward and organised a Vespa rideout for Good Friday starting 10am at The Shannon, Woodbridge and ending at The Belstead Arms, Ipswich at 3pm. The hot menu will be on offer. It will be a fabulous family fun day out.

It’s incredibly sad to be writing this appeal. Normally if i write on local pages for appeals then I can guarantee that this mum will step up to help.

Chantelle is a 34 year old mum of 3. In July 2021, this family were moved out of their overcrowded property and moved into a property that should not have been inhabited. The family didn't mind as they were fit and healthy, they believed they could manage and finance the work ……………… the rear garden was unsafe, sharp metal protruding from the ground, garden filled with rubbish, unsafe fencing, crumbling brick wall, unsafe steps. The garden was rotivated, large quantities of sharp metal was removed, all the family‘s savings went in to replacing the unsafe fencing and securing the garden so that it would be fit for a toddler to play out there. Time after time faults have been reported to the council but the list of required repairs is lengthy. In normal circumstances I wouldn’t be asking the public for help but this isn’t normal circumstances, in December 2021, Chantelle was diagnosed with a 19.5cm myxoid sarcoma, CANCER.

This rare cancer is not being treated locally, 25 radiotherapy appointments were scheduled 15 miles away from their family home. Surgery and all consultant appointments are scheduled 136 miles away. All of these trips have been self funded as they are just over the threshold for financial support for transport.

Surgery is pencilled in for the Easter holidays, 2 children and 1 toddler at home, unable to use their unsafe garden, mum recovering from having a 19.5cm cancer removed from her left leg will be unable to leave the home to take the children out so they can play safely due to the inaccessibility via the front. A driveway needs to be created so that this family can leave the property.

Chantelle will be in hospital 140 miles away from her children for 5 days. The recovery is predicted to be long and hard with extensive physiotherapy. The bathroom is upstairs in the property, as she will struggle to navigate stairs a great deal of recovery will be in her bedroom.

Chantelle has not had the time or energy to continually chase the repairs or request emergency disability work to be carried out as she has had to focus on having daily treatment whilst caring for a 3 year old. A complaint over the mounting lack of repairs was made and reached level 2 but has still not seen the works carried out. Obviously her priority has been her health and she has not been in a position to chase every single repair on a daily basis, one repair to make steps safe has been timelined(not a confirmed repair, the last repair a subcontractor arrived, was unable to carry out the repair so sat in their van outside for the day before leaving) for after the surgery, which of course is not soon enough her mobility is getting worse by the day and her thigh is increasing in swelling despite the treatment.

A young mum who takes such pride in her appearance has found that she is unable to wear her normal wardrobe due to the sheer size of her leg and the discomfort of the material stretch on her thigh.

Whislt I can’t magic the cancer away I am asking the public to help with the following:

£2500 to create a driveway to access the property safely

Labourers to come and continue the work that Chantelle began to carry out to the rear garden. Brick wall to be rebuilt, steps to be widened and made safe, patio to be laid(slabs provided) where currently waste metal from the previously grassed area is stacked. Turf to be laid once all metal is removed, steps and wall repaired. See photos.

£200 to provide Chantelle with a tv for her bedroom for use during recovery

£100 travel expense towards the cost of each appointment in London

£££ Recreation for the children during the Easter holidays in a safe environment. The children currently have no additional support in place to help cope with watching their mum struggle. 2 weeks at home from school, stuck inside will be detrimental to their mental well being.

There are no support workers in place helping this family navigate through this difficult journey and it is with much reluctance that this young, caring, community minded mum has agreed to let me step in.

It is overwhelming the sheer amount of assistance this family require. Any amount received will make an enormous amount of difference; whether its £25 to take the children to the cinema in the Easter holidays, £15 for a pair of trousers that are not tight against Chantelle’s swollen leg, £8 per bag of concrete needed to lay the patio so Chantelle can sit outside ans supervise her children playing, or £3 per roll of turf so the children have a safe space to play outside.