My mother, Judy, loved butterflies.

She left us on 15 October 2024, but her strength, courage and positive spirit have kept us going through the darkest of days. Bountiful Butterflies is for her.

The butterflies

Dozens of wooden butterflies have gone out to artists and public figures to paint and sign. They come back framed, and every one is sold.

Alan Titchmarsh, Sam and Shirley Fender, Jill Halfpenny, Tim and Jo Healy, Nick Baker, Mike Dilger, M. G. Leonard and Lucy Pittaway have all agreed to paint one, alongside Narbi Price, Mick Oxley, Celia Lewis and many more artists from Surrey and the North East.

You can see the butterflies and the lots and the raffle at www.bountifulbutterflies.com

Where to see them

The full framed collection is on show for one week at Clarendon Fine Art, 36 High Street, Haslemere GU27 2HJ, from 1pm on Saturday 3 October. Online bidding opens at the same time and closes at 5pm on Saturday 10 October.

Why the RVI

In 2022, Mum was a patient on Ward 36 of the Leazes Wing at the Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary. Mum loved the nurses, doctors and consultants at the RVI, and it is due to their unfaltering commitment, skill and expertise that she defied expectations and returned home to her family. She received exemplary care during her time as an in-patient on the ward, which continued with many on-site check ups and calls with Lead Consultant Mr Hayes until 2024.

Why it matters

Oesophageal cancer is very often found late, because the early signs look like heartburn. Finding it sooner is the point at which the outcome can change.

The Northern Oesophago-Gastric Unit is one of the places doing something about that. It helped write the international staging manual for this cancer, contributed to the NICE guidance on catching it early, and trains surgeons from around the world. It serves the whole of the North East and Cumbria. Oesophagoose, its awareness campaign, was started by one of the unit's own cancer nurse specialists.

Your donation pays for the unit's research, for the awareness work that finds this cancer sooner, and for the things that make treatment easier to bear.

Dad and I owe a great deal to the team on Ward 36, and we would appreciate any donations you are able to make in Mum's memory to Oesophagoose, the Northern Oesophago-Gastric Unit's charitable fund. Part of Newcastle Hospitals Charity, you can learn more about Oesophagoose at www.nogu.org.uk

Thank you for visiting.

Caroline and Geoff xx