A TRAVEL agent from Prenton is hoping to raise cash for Cancer Research UK after she lost her nan to the disease.

Ashley Cox, 24, manager at Hays Travel in Wallasey hopes to raise £500 for Cancer Research with the help of her colleagues after her nan Janet McNamara died in January this year, aged 65, after battling the disease.

Ashley said: “I’ve got a real incentive to raise as much money as possible in memory of my nan.

“It’s all still quite fresh for me.

“My nan was like a mum when I was younger. She looked after me as my mum worked full time.

“She’d drop me off and pick me up from school, and feed me.

“Before nan died I wouldn’t have taken much interest in what the charity does, but once cancer affects you personally and your family that changes. It’s a horrible disease.

Wirral Globe: Ashley, her nan Janet and Ashley's mum Diane

“I saw what it did to my nan and we’re really going to go for it this year to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK.

“It (the tumour) couldn’t be removed because of where it was.

“She underwent radiotherapy and lost her hair, but through the treatment it began to shrink.

“Nan was in a good place and was getting on with life as normal again.

“But in October last year she was taken into hospital with pneumonia.

“When they did all the tests they found that the cancer had spread into her lungs and bones, and that it was terminal.

“We were told to make the most of our time with her but she was in hospital until December.

“When she came home she deteriorated really quickly and on January 11 she died.

“It would have been her birthday on the 15th.”

Hays Travel in Wallasey will hold a number of fundraisers to hit a £500 target, walk up Moel Famau and take part in Birkenhead Park’s Race For Life.