Appeal to reach £1 million milestone in honour of late fundraiser Margaret
Dedicated Cancer Research UK campaigner Margaret Griffin, who spearheaded fundraising in Wyre Forest for 55 years, has died at the age of 91.
Margaret, a retired interior design consultant from Hartlebury, founded the district’s fundraising committee with her late husband Leonard, which has raised more than £900,000 for research into treatments and cures for the disease.
The Cancer Research Campaign had wanted a district branch established and the then Mayor and close friend, the late Charles Talbot asked the couple to set it up.
Following her husband’s death, Margaret continued fundraising as the driving force behind the committee and in 2002 the charity changed its name to Cancer Research UK following its merger with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
Its chairman Peter Tomlinson described Margaret as having ‘drive and determination that never waned’, who chose not to be chairman herself but to pick those whom she knew she could ‘drive, enthuse and encourage’.
He said: “Her legacy lies not just in the £900,000 achieved so far, every pound of which she helped the committee raise, but that her personality, her dedication, her steadfastness and her passion not only kept the committee together, but were an inspiration to all whom she touched and they are many.”
He said the committee had hoped to raise £1 million before Margaret passed away, and although Covid-19 stopped all fundraising opportunities, he vowed they would reach the milestone in her honour.
Donations if desired can be made to Cancer Research UK – Wyre Forest Local Committee.
Cheques to Cancer Research UK, c/o Edwin Harris & Sons, 1 Crane Street, Kidderminster DY11 6XT, or online at https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/in-memory-of-margaret-griffin
