Scotland

Bloomin’ Marvellous- Daisies Raise Thousands for Charity

This June marks five years since Sheila Fleet OBE first became a patron for Pancreatic Cancer Action Scotland (previously Pancreatic Cancer Scotland). Since then, as well as raising awareness, Sheila has raised thousands of pounds for not only our charity but others as well.

Sheila Fleet

The team at Pancreatic Cancer Action would like to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of Sheila Fleet OBE and her team at Sheila Fleet Jewellery (SFJ).

In June 2017, Sheila became a patron for Pancreatic Cancer Scotland (before the merger with Pancreatic Cancer Action) after losing her husband Rick, age 68, to the disease in 2013.

Becoming a patron has not stopped Sheila’s fundraising efforts. Since 2017, Sheila and her customers have raised  £22,924.13! A fantastic effort from collection tins, shares from jewellery sales, a virtual challenge and additional donations. For previous Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Months’, Sheila even created two purple pendants for a social media competition.

Daises at Dawn
Rick Fleet's photo of Daisies at Dawn

Daisies at Dawn

For World Cancer Day in February 2020, it was announced that the Daisies at Dawn Collection would support our charity. It was through Daisies at Dawn that Sheila would make her most significant contribution to the charity. From every piece sold from the collection, 10% was donated to the charity. This saw a total of £16,883.81 raised throughout 2020 and 2021 for Pancreatic Cancer Action.

The delicate daisy held significance in Sheila’s life, and on her wedding day in 1976, her long white dress was made of lace daisies, and her bouquet included this flower. Daisies at Dawn grew through Sheila’s desire to give something back to charitable causes and help others. The collection used a daisy originating from Orkney girl Emily Findlay. Emily had been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer at the young age of 14. Sheila wanted to do something for Emily and found out that her favourite flower was the daisy.

This reminded Sheila of one of Rick’s photographs that was taken from their home and workshop in Orkney. The photo above. Showing a sunrise with daises highlighted in the forefront (pictured above). This was used as inspiration for the Daises at Dawn collection, launched in May 2014. Since then, the collection has raised more than £100,000 for good causes and is currently fundraising for the Multiple Sclerosis Society Orkney.

Daisy Necklace
One of the necklaces available in the Daisies at Dawn collection

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month 2020 & 2021

For Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in 2020, the Sheila Fleet Jewellery team raised more than £5,800 by travelling virtually from Orkney to Glasgow and back, 1280 miles! To clock up the miles, the team of 33 ran, cycled and rowed around their island base, setting off on the first of November and finishing on World Pancreatic Cancer Day (Thursday the nineteenth of November).

SFJ also donated an amethyst Daisy collection worth over £1,000 to the Just Employment Law online auction. Baking skills were also on show in 2020, as a special purple cake was available to purchase at The Kirk Gallery & Cafe in Orkney on World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

Finally, for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month 2021, SFJ ran an online competition offering a prize of special Amethyst Daisies at Dawn Collection items. This sale received more than 2,000 entries from across the world!

SFJ Kirk Group
The members of the Sheila Fleet Jewellery group at the Kirk Cafe that Turned it Purple for World Pancreatic Cancer Day

What the money raised will go towards

Sheila Fleet OBE will continue to be a patron of the charity and, alongside her family and team, will continue to support our initiatives to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. We would like to extend our thanks to Sheila, Martin, Mairi, and the team at Sheila Fleet Jewellery & her customers for raising money for our charity!

The near £23,000 that Sheila, her team, and customers have helped to raise will continue to help the people of Scotland through our projects, activities, and initiatives.

THANK YOU!

We continue our mission to improve the survival rates of pancreatic cancer. We will achieve this by ensuring that more people are diagnosed early and that everyone has access to effective treatments, support, information and care.