Salon's sporting heroes double their money for Daisy Appeal

A leading hair salon group donated more than £3,000 to the Daisy Appeal after staff completed their annual Olympics in memory of a much-loved former colleague.

Teams from the Unique salons in Beverley, Cottingham and Hessle took to the fields of Blackburn Leisure Centre in Brough for the tenth edition of the sporting challenge and racked up the total raised at “Caroline’s Day” over the years to more than
£40,000.

By donating the money to the Daisy Appeal as part of The Big Give Christmas Challenge, management at Unique were able to double the value of their contribution to more than £6,000.

Caroline Abuelo was a director of Unique Salons and was instrumental in the establishment and growth of the business. She lost her fight against cancer in 2009 and staff at all three salons have honoured her memory every year since by supporting cancer charities.

Allan Smith, Managing Director of Unique, said: “The Unique Olympics are a wonderful way to remember Caroline each year. She was a fabulous member of our Unique family and she was an amazing individual. Each year we raise money for a great cause, and come together to remember one of our dearest friends.”

Sharon Windle, Director of the Cottingham salon, added: “It is a sports day with a twist which sees salon teams battling it out against each other for gold medals in elite sports such as egg and spoon racing and the three-legged race. It was also a chance to have a great day out with family and raise loads of money for the Daisy Appeal.”

Claire Levy, Fundraiers for the Daisy Appeal, said: “This is a remarkable story, keeping the memory of Caroline alive with an annual fundraising day. It’s an incredible tribute to her and testimony to the high regard of her colleagues. We are very grateful to Unique Salons for selecting the Daisy Appeal as the beneficiary of Caroline’s Day in its tenth anniversary year.

“By making the donation as part of The Big Give, Unique Salons have enabled us to bring in even more money. We would ask anyone else who is planning to make a donation soon to contact us before the deadline on Tuesday 10 December and help us to double their money before the window closes.”

The Big Give Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign. For seven days from midday on Tuesday 3 December it offers supporters of participating charities the opportunity to have their donation doubled.

The Daisy Appeal has a target of £8.2-million to complete a radiochemistry and cyclotron unit which will produce radioactive tracers at Castle Hill Hospital to improve accuracy and detection rates for cancer, heart disease and dementia in Hull, East
Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

The new facility will provide the opportunity for patients to receive more personalised treatment leading to earlier diagnosis and giving them a better chance of survival.

Once the facility is fully functional patients from a wider geographical area will have access to its services. The charity aims to play a leading role in clinically relevant PET-CT research over the next two decades and to show that the technology can be
brought to the individual patient, quickly and effectively.

To find out more about the Dairy Appeal please visit: www.daisyappeal.org.uk. To help the Daisy Appeal double its money in The Big Give please visit: www.bit.ly/DaisyChristmasChallenge