Romsey band donates more than £500 to cancer charity

Romsey Old Cadets raised £510 last year with a charity collection in December, with the whole band dressing as Father Christmas and visiting various pubs around the town.

The band donated the money to the charity PLANETS, holding a cheque presentation at the Romsey Royal British Legion Club on Love Lane on Tuesday, March 5.

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Current band chairman Geoff Cheeter said: “This was organised by our previous chairman, it was his friend, Nathan Sessions, who unfortunately passed away.

Romsey Old Cadets presenting a cheque for the amount raised to Jo Green from the charity PLANETS (Image: Chris Atkinson)

“We had done a charity football match for PLANETS, so when we did our charity whip-round at Christmas we decided to fundraise for PLANETS again. We’re really pleased with how much we raised.

“We fundraise for different Romsey charities each year. We have a couple of ideas of which ones we’ll be supporting this year and we are hoping to decide it officially at a meeting later this week.”

As previously reported, Mr Sessions was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in May 2022.

While chemotherapy was initially successful, the dad of two had to look for other options after it became less effective.

Nathan Sessions undergoing chemotherapy (Image: Family collection)

Friends set up a crowdfunding appeal to help pay for treatment, raising £10,000 within 24 hours, with several others organising a fundraising walk to Machu Picchu to raise funds.

Despite this, he passed away in April last year.

Jo Green, operations director for PLANETS, met the Romsey Old Cadets to receive a cheque on the charity's behalf.

She said: “We are very grateful to the Romsey Old Cadets for raising this fantastic amount for us in memory of Nathan Sessions.

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“PLANETS are a local charity that supports patients with pancreatic, liver, abdominal (oesophageal, gastric, colorectal) and neuroendocrine cancer, running patient support groups and funding innovative treatments and research, making sure that patients in this area have access to world-class care.

“This amount of money will make a big difference and it was lovely to come and meet the band and say thank you in person.”

The Romsey Old Cadets are looking for new members. Anyone who wants to find out more about the group can find out more by visiting its website.