Joan Cochrane, a volunteer with Cancer Research who lost both her husband and daughter-in-law to the disease, has been honoured for her charity work
JOAN, 89, began fundraising for Imperial Cancer Research, as the charity was then called, while caring for her daughter-in-law, Ishbel, who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 43.
When not driving Ishbel to hospital or looking after her two g
randchildren, Joan would sell her homemade marmalade at the local market, donating all the money raised to the charity.
In 1989, she became the first volunteer at the cancer charity's newly-opened shop in North Berwick.
Sadly, Ishbel died after a two-year battle with the disease, aged just 45.
But Joan continued working in the shop, selling jam and home baking alongside her marmalade.
Born in London in 1918, she had moved to Scotland when she married her husband Ian, who worked for the Bank of Scotland. She lived in Glasgow, where she worked as a civil servant and the couple had three sons.
Following Joan's retirement in 1973, she and her husband moved to North Berwick.
In 1998, Ian visited the doctor after complaining about a pain that was affecting his golf swing.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer and died just a few short months later at the age of 84.
Joan, who has herself beaten breast cancer, continues to work two shifts every week in the charity shop, despite using a hearing aid and suffering from difficulty walking.
Her efforts were rewarded earlier this month when Cancer Research presented her with its Flame of Hope award and named her an honorary fellow of the charity.
The award was presented during a special ceremony in the Cafe Royal on London's Regent Street.
Joan retains great enthusiasm for her work and says that she has made many good friends since she began volunteering.
She is also pleased at the way in which cancer treatment has developed over the 19 years that she has been volunteering.
Shop manager Alison Mulligan, 60, said: "Joan is the most enthusiastic person I know. It's very hard for her to get here twice a week but she does it."
Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK chief executive, said the charity has made big progress in tackling the disease but was dependent on the hard work and dedication of volunteers like Joan. He said: "Without our volunteers and supporters we would not be able to fund outstanding scientists, doctors and nurses.
"Our Flame of Hope awards give us the opportunity to celebrate and say 'thank-you' to these enormously generous volunteers for their fantastic work."
The full article contains 452 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
