A MAN from Higher Whitley is aiming to raise £500 for Lymphoma Action by encouraging people to donate to the charity in exchange for jars of his delicious homemade jams and preserves.
Alister Cook’s preserve making hobby started shortly after moving into his current house which hosts a variety of productive fruit trees and bushes in his garden. Not wanting to see the produce go to waste, Alister started making jams and chutneys including a range of fruit and vegetables – from damsons, apples, rhubarb, raspberries and blueberries to chillis, peppers and tomatoes. Alister’s hobby grew even further during the COVID-19 national lockdown, and he started to give his jams and chutneys away to friends and family, earning him the nickname “The Cheshire Jam Man”.
Not wanting to take any payment for the produce, Alister started to think about whether people could donate to a cause instead and has recently set up a JustGiving page should people wish to make a donation to Lymphoma Action, the only charity in the UK dedicated to lymphoma. It is a cause close to his heart, as Alister has been receiving treatment for lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, following his diagnosis earlier this year. Alister’s page can be found at: www.justgiving.com/page/alister-cook-1698356771782. You can also follow him on Instagram @CheshireJamMan for recipes and further details about his products.
“I discovered I had follicular lymphoma by chance following a routine prostate check” says Alister. “It’s one of the less aggressive cancers but I still needed treatment with a mixture of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. After a course of R-CVP chemotherapy, I am now on a maintenance treatment. Even though I feel lucky compared to people with more aggressive cancers, the chemotherapy has definitely weakened me and changed my mental outlook on work and life.”
“Before my diagnosis, I decided to collate my recipes and photographs into a book where proceeds could then go to charity but needed a cause” he adds. “Now the cause has become clear, I still intend to complete the project and compile the book, with proceeds going to Lymphoma Action”.
“We are so grateful to Alister for his support” says Amy Billington, Senior Fundraising Manager at Lymphoma Action. “Every 26 minutes one of us is diagnosed with lymphoma. Thanks to the support of people like Alister we can continue to provide vital information and support to make sure no one has to face lymphoma alone.”
For more information about Lymphoma Action, please visit www.lymphoma-action.org.uk
