Final touches made for brave Candice's ball (From Wirral Globe)

Final touches made for brave Candice's ball

10:48am Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in News By Stephanie Cureton

A WIRRAL mum, whose brave daughter lost her battle with cancer, is making the final preparations for a ball held in her honour.

Candice Colley, from Thingwall, passed away in December 2010 after a four-year fight with leukaemia.

But following her death her family and friends set up the Candice Colley Foundation to lend a financial hand to cancer sufferers and their relatives.

The charity aims to help families with day-to-day costs such as parking charges and tunnel fares, with a motto of “making life a little easier.”

And now her mum Angela Marincowitz is looking forward to marking her 23-year-old daughter’s legacy with a special ball at Thornton Hall Hotel on October 13.

She told the Globe: “There are still some tickets left for the ball but I think we have done pretty well selling as many as we have, considering this is our first event of this kind.

“It is going to be a very emotional night for us all because Candice always said she wanted to throw a charity ball once she was better and for it to be held at Thornton Hall, so we are fulfilling that wish of hers.

“We know that she would have loved all the effort that has gone into the organising of it and she would have been staggered at how kind people have been by donating prizes for raffles and wanting to get involved.”

During her battle with the disease, Candice organised a massive bone marrow recruitment drive to drum support for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

But despite undergoing a successful bone marrow transplant to save her life, she later contracted an infection which her body could not fight off.

Angela now wants to make sure that momentum keeps going for the Candice Colley Foundation.

She said: “There are so many charities out there asking for money so we need to make sure we are doing something different to keep people interested. We may hold the ball every two years and think of other exciting ways to raise money.

“The Foundation is going really well and we are helping one particular family a lot with day-to-day things but after the ball we plan to really push it out there, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

“We all know Candice will be at the ball in spirit and we have asked her to let us know when she makes her big entrance. She would be so proud of everyone for carrying on her legacy – she was an amazing young woman.”

Tickets for the ball are £55 and include a champagne reception, a three course meal with wine and coffee and entertainment. There will also be raffles and an auction on the night. For more information, visit www.candicecolley.co.uk or call 07582 926 926.