Former teacher’s charity hoping to break £100,000 mark

3:30pm Tuesday 15th November 2011

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A charity set up after the death of a Croxley Green school teacher is hoping to break through its £100,000 mark at a fundraising dinner.

the Nicki’s Smile Charitable Fund will be holding the inaugural dinner on Sunday November 20, in Sopwell House, St Albans.

Three hundred and thirty people have confirmed attendance, including actress Maureen Lipman, Strictly come Dancing star Rachel Stevens and stand-up comedians, Ian Stone and mark Maier.

the charity was set up in memory of Nicki Blake, a wife and mother who taught at little Green Junior School in Croxley Green.

She lost her twenty month battle with Neuroendocrine Pancreatic Cancer in November 2010, aged just 33, leaving behind her devoted husband Dan Blake and three-year-old son, Joshua.

mr Blake set up the charitable fund in memory of his wife, together with Pancreatic Cancer UK, to raise money for early diagnosis of the disease.

just over a year before she was diagnosed, mrs Blake complained of back and abdominal pain and was rushed to A and E.

Doctors did not pick up on the potential warning signs of pancreatic cancer and she was sent home with some anti-inflammatory medication.

A year later, in March 2009, Nicki was diagnosed with an advanced and inoperable form of pancreatic cancer.

With improved understanding of symptoms, doctors could have requested tests which would almost certainly have shown a tumour in the head of her pancreas which could have been operated on.

mr Blake said: “The money we raise will be used to fund vital research into symptoms and early diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer with the aim of improving survival rates and the quality of life of people affected by the disease.

“The goal is to ensure that in the future, pancreatic cancer’s awful survival statistics are improved. better understanding, early diagnosis initiatives and improved treatment options can make this a reality.”

the fundraising dinner falls during the national Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month and it is hoped that after the event, Nicki’s Smile will have raised over £100,000.

mr Blake added: “Nicki never complained about her illness and went about her everyday life as a wife, mother and primary school teacher. If Nicki’s Smile could make a difference to even one person, then her death will not have been in vain,”

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