Incredible appeal still making a difference
There have been great and successful public appeals which have tapped into the generosity of Salopians.
But there has never been one quite like the Cobalt Unit Appeal in which the dream started to become a reality this month in 1981.
It was an effort which galvanised the county, with events big and small all aiding the noble cause, which was to create a cancer treatment unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The man who started it all, Councillor Bernard Lingen, together with wife Celia, ceremonially cut the first turf of the new unit on Monday, January 26, 1981, watched by a group of over 50 people, including his family, health officials, and people involved in the campaign.
That day was a triumph for Councillor Lingen who had spearheaded the campaign to raise £1.25 million to build a two-storey L-shaped centre to treat hundreds of cancer patients from Shropshire and Mid Wales a year. It would mean they could receive their treatment on the doorstep, rather than having to travel to places like Stoke and Wolverhampton, or even as far afield as Cheltenham and Cardiff.
"I feel very proud to be here today. It is a very special occasion for me and my wife," he said.
The £1.25 million target was smashed a few months later, on July 17.
Sadly he was never to see the venture completed. Bernard Lingen died on October 14, 1981. The Shropshire and Mid Wales Cobalt Unit was opened on October 25, 1982, by his widow.
Her voice breaking with emotion, she said she wished with all her heart that he was there to perform the opening.
"For the last two-and-a-half years of his life he put his heart and soul into fundraising and enjoyed every minute of it," she said.
The new unit, also called the Lingen-Davies radiotherapy unit – honouring as well the role of Frank Davies, chairman of the trustees – opened with 16 beds and extensive outpatient facilities. It was dedicated by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Rt Rev Leslie Lloyd Rees.
How did it all start? The appeal was launched by Councillor Lingen, the incoming Mayor of Shrewsbury & Atcham, as he began his year of office on May 18, 1979. The £1.25 million target, a truly massive amount for the time, looked enormously ambitious for a rural county with a relatively small population, the equivalent of about £2.50 per head.
The area health authority had already committed itself to raising money with a charitable trust to create a cobalt unit in the county.
A sense of what was to come came at the inaugural meeting at Shrewsbury Castle, held on June 5, 1979. It was crowded and enthusiastic, and there were immediate donations – a £1,000 cheque from Ashley Homes and £10 from a Miss Blake of Bomere Heath.
That meeting also saw Councillor Lingen team up with Frank Davies, a chartered accountant with his own business in Shrewsbury, who became treasurer. The pair were the dynamic duo at the heart of the campaign, travelling all over Shropshire and into Mid Wales collecting money.
The appeal, with the support of tireless volunteers, captured the public imagination. The magnificent response spanned all ages. After Councillor Lingen's death Frank Davies took over as fund chairman and his widow was to recall how, insistent that every contribution was acknowledged, Frank collected some money raised by some little children who had raffled a marrow towards the cause.
The Shropshire Star threw its weight behind the appeal, making a point of reporting all the fundraising events across Shropshire and Mid Wales, and our "moneybags" logo became the fund's symbol.
Frank Davies died, aged 87, in 2005.
By mobilising the people of Shropshire and Mid Wales with a noble idea, appeal founders Bernard Lingen and Frank Davies have left an enduring legacy from which the people of the area continue to benefit as the fundraising and good work of the charity continues to this day.
It became known as the Lingen Davies Cancer Relief Fund in 1994 and from April 1, 2013, changed its name to The Lingen Davies Cancer Fund.
It has contributed around £18 million to improve local cancer services, and estimates that around 75,000 people have had their cancer treatment and care improved through the impact of the fund.
