Everyone needs future dreams…including us. Adaptation has been a vital part of Future Dreams’ response to the dramatic impact of Covid-19. I’m sure many of you reading this are thinking and living very differently than you were 12 months ago. It has been the same for us. Like all charities, we have faced – and are still facing – big challenges with fund-raising. But an amazing thing has come out of these difficult times. We have been reacting to the increasingly desperate needs of breast cancer patients during lockdown by doing far more work on the front line. We have developed new and dynamic ways of giving direct practical and emotional support, working hand-in-hand with the wonderful NHS. It has been upsetting seeing increased problems of isolation and hardship. It has, however, enabled us to build an incredibly powerful new network of patients, survivors and breast care nurses who are constantly feeding into us their experiences. It has meant we can be instantly reactive, providing help where it’s needed, and we’ve been able to connect patients and their families to much-needed resources at this difficult time. It was only back in March, but it seems a lifetime ago that we raised £35,000 with our inspiring International Women’s Day Lunch, sponsored by Estée Lauder Companies. We met at The Arts Club in London’s Mayfair to hear broadcaster and breast cancer survivor Victoria Derbyshire chatting to a wonderful panel, including cookery writer Prue Leith, Cold Feet star Fay Ripley and Casualty actress and breast cancer survivor Amanda Mealing. Two weeks later, the UK was plunged into
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