Fundraising campaign tops £80,000 as comic Jason Manford issues plea for fans to support sick mum Rachel
A fundraising campaign to pay off a sick mum’s mortgage has seen more than £80,000 raised in three days after a plea from comedian Jason Manford. Brave mum-of-three Rachel Clements, from Pymoor, near Ely, has only 24 per cent lung function. Picture: FAMILY/ FACEBOOK - Credit: Archant
A fundraising campaign to pay off a sick mum’s mortgage has seen more than £80,000 raised by 9,000 people in three days after a plea from comedian Jason Manford.
Brave mother-of-three Rachel Clements from Cambridgeshire who is battling an incurable form of lung disease is hoping to raise £119,000 to pay off her mortgage to secure her children’s future. Picture: FAMILY. - Credit: Archant
Brave mum-of-three Rachel Clements, from Pymoor, near Ely, has only 24 per cent lung function and is under palliative care.
Rachel's fears are for her children - who could potentially be left without a home without her.
But little did she know that her cause would attract the attention of comic Jason who asked his "charity ninjas" to donate.
Within three days the campaign has seen an impressive £50,000 donated - leaving the family around £40,000 off their total.
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Posting on Facebook on Friday (June 28), Jason said: "Here's a mad idea.
"Facebook tells me that there are over one million active fans on my page.
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"Super mum, Rachel, who has a number of awful things wrong with her and yet who's only wish in the frankly awful timing of her imminent passing now she's in palliative care, is what any of us would want, our children to feel safe and secure when we're no longer around to that happen.
"Please donate, we can do this. It's just gonna take an almighty try
"So you'll miss a fancy coffee this week or maybe don't get a pudding one night. That's all it takes to change a family's life, to good, for good."
The overwhelming national support left Rachel speechless, who simply posted on her page Breathlessly Mothering: "So this happened tonight and I'm completely lost for words..."
Speaking to the Ely Standard last month, Rachel described her children Chloe, 12, Louis, three, and Ivan, 18 months, as her "miracles".
"I felt as a young mum I would never be able to open about how ill I am and I was always trying so hard to cover it up due to pride, but now I feel its best to accept help," she said.
Friends of Rachel decided to set up the JustGiving page - which saw more than £10,000 raised in the first seven days of its launch.
To donate to Rachel's story visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helptheclementskids or follow Breathlessly Mothering on Facebook and Instagram.
