A final cheque and a farewell to Maggie’s Fife fundraising manager

The fundraising manager left last week after a decade at the heart of the centre.

One of her last acts was to accept a cheque for £1000 to bolster the £10,000 appeal she launched to ensure our Maggie’s Centre could continue to offer its vital support to people living with cancer during the lockdown, and beyond.

The appeal smashed its target within two weeks, and was then doubled by a further £10,000 from NHS Fife’s endowment fund.

But the money is still coming in with £1000 from Kingdom Business Forum after the members read about the appeal in the Fife Free Press.

The presentation came as Tu said her farewell’s to the centre to move on to a new job outwith the charity.

As the figurehead of Maggie’s, she was at the forefront of a raft of fundraising initiatives and campaigns – and forged strong links with a huge range of organisations and individuals.

Alison Allan, centre head, paid tribute to Tu on her departure.

She said: “Having been at the heart of Maggie’s Fife for more than 10 years, we will all miss Tu terribly.

“I hope she is incredibly proud of her achievements as not only has she been a brilliant fundraiser, she has never failed to treat everyone she meets with care and kindness.

“Through Tu’s tireless efforts we have been able to support people with cancer, as well as family and friends, from across the entire Fife region for many years, including through these incredibly tough times.

“The extraordinary generosity of the people of Fife over the last few weeks in raising more than £10,000 to help us reach people with cancer at a time when they need us more than ever, is a wonderful legacy for Tu to leave.

“It was a perfect example of how well Tu worked with her Maggie’s colleagues, the brilliant team at the Fife Free Press and the wider community.

“I wish her every success in her new role and I hope that one day, when we are able to see people in our centre once more, she pops in for a visit – as she knows the kettle is always on.”

Tu wrapped up her tenure at Maggie’s by collecting £1000 from William Brown, membership secretary of Kingdom Business Forum.

The group decided to back the centre’s crowdfunder having previously supported Maggie’s.

William said the forum was delighted to be able to support the online initiative after a quick discussion with members.

He added: “We are a networking group for businesses in the Fife area to come together and generate work between all the different professions to try and get local businesses working together.

“We had a Zoom meeting with the members and we all decided, after reading an article about the fundraiser in the Fife Free Press, to donate £1000 to Maggie’s Fife.”

The group is all too aware of the vital role Maggie’s plays.

Added William: “I am from Kirkcaldy and I have friends who have used the centre’s facilities and the forum members all know how important Maggie’s is.

“The donation was taken from funds we have built up but it isn’t the first time we have given to Maggie’s Fife.”

William, who met Alison Allan at the centre last Thursday to present her with a cheque, added: “All of the forum members were unanimous in giving again to Maggie’s because we are very proud of the work it does.

“We all felt it is very important to have Maggie’s in Fife to help those people who need its support the most.”