Family's cupcake sales help cancer fighter Lucy, 8, get wheelchair
Peter Steward
Mark and Sherree Matless with daughters Amelia, left, and Sienna. - Credit: Peter Steward
When a kind-hearted family heard about a young Hethersett girl's fight against cancer they decided to use their skills over the Easter holidays to boost a social media appeal.
The Matless family set up a stall every weekday from 10am to 11am, selling cupcakes in support of eight-year-old Hethersett Woodside Primary School pupil Lucy who is receiving treatment for bone cancer.
The GoFundMe appeal was set up to raise £10,000 for a powered wheelchair and has already raised more than £12,000.
Some of the cupcakes made and sold by the Matless family. - Credit: Peter Steward
“When we heard about Lucy, we felt we wanted to help,” said mum Sherree Matless.
So, supported by husband Mark and daughters Sienna, seven, and Amelia, 11, she set to work making hundreds of cupcakes to sell from outside their home in Priory Road, Hethersett.
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In their first week, the family raised £400 and this amount is likely to at least double before the end of the school holidays, exceeding their initial aim of raising £500.
Mark and Sherree Matless with their daughters Amelia, left, and Sienna. - Credit: Peter Steward
Mrs Matless has made over with a variety of flavours including vanilla, blueberry, salted caramel, lemon and elderflower and even some gin and rum flavoured for adults. The family has also had a cupcake of the day throughout the two weeks.
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“The first week we sold out and raised over £400. We are so grateful and it has been so nice to see neighbours and people passing by again and also to help such a deserving cause. The more we can spread the word the better,” added Mrs Matless, who has her own business Little Priory Cupcakes, which she says has really “boomed” during lockdown.
The “Lucy’s Fight Against Bone Cancer” GoFundMe page has already exceeded its target
Mark and Sherree Matless. - Credit: Peter Steward
Lucy's mother Helga Foyster said: “Thank you each and every one of you for your kindness and generosity, we are overwhelmed with how quickly the total had been smashed. Thanks doesn’t seem a big enough word to express how we are feeling."
Lucy started chemotherapy in February and is awaiting major surgery which will be followed by up to two years of rehabilitation.
The money raised will be used for a powered wheelchair to give Lucy some independence and also to make the garden and bathroom at their Hethersett home more wheelchair friendly.
