A GROUP that unites cancer charity supporters in the same town plans to host its first fundraising event and needs help to make it succeed.

Marie Curie Cancer Care approached volunteers in the Spennymoor area to boost their efforts in aid of the charity by working as a team.

A key member of the group is treasurer Kerryann Stewart, whose family has raised about £10,000 for Marie Curie since her mother Ruth Price, 60, of Whitley Bay, died of breast cancer in 2008.

The 39-year-old, from Chilton, said: “It was a really hard time. She spent her final days in a Marie Curie hospice in Newcastle, which is an amazing place, so peaceful, very dignified and gave us a chance to be a family instead of just be in the caring role.

“Its nursing care is wonderful for the person with cancer, but also for the family and we feel strongly about giving something back.

“There are people dotted around who support the charity and we hope as a group to do even more and make a success of our first significant event.

“The charity is worth every penny raised.”

During June, the fundraising team will hold The Blooming Great Tea Party tour and summer festival in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

It has teamed up with Success (North East), which works with young people and families in the Spennymoor area and with which Mrs Stewart is a project development officer, to plan the event.

Doubling up as Success (North East)’s annual schools cluster event it will entail ten schools holding a tea party on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20.

An open top party bus carrying games and entertainers will visit each school and there will be a children’s teapot design competition, with winning entries made into real pots.

Organisers want local businesses or organisations that make a great cup of tea to help judge.

The event will culminate with a tea party at DurhamGate summer festival featuring performers, stalls, fairground rides and other attractions on Sunday, June 22, from 1pm to 4pm.

Groups are invited to hold fundraising or promotional stalls, which must not be political, and there are slots available to showcase local talent such as dance troupes, music acts and sporting displays.

DurhamGate Duke of Edinburgh candidates and Spennymoor Youth Council plan a teapot themed activity and are appealing for donations of old teapots and cups.

Volunteers are needed to help the event run smoothly and everyone involved is asked to embrace the tea party theme.

To help contact Wendy Minhinnet at wendy@success.coop or on 07415380040 or Helen Attley at Helen@durhamgate.com or on 07720593220 by Monday, June 9.