Julie's fundraiser Credit Mark Scoular

A Salford playgroup will be hosting a fundraiser this weekend for a member of staff who was diagnosed with terminal cancer three weeks ago. 

Auntie Steph’s Playgroup will be hosting the event this Sunday in honour of Julie McGuinness to help support her and her family during this difficult time.

The event will be held at the SPACRS building, Vicarage Road in Swinton on Sunday 3 November.

The fundraiser will start at 11am and will through to 3pm, and will have a wide variety of treats for families including a bouncy castle, a range of indoor activities, and many raffles with lots of prizes to be won.

Open to all the event will cost £1 per person donation for entry, or what ever you can afford – however they have stressed that this is a cash only event, will all the donations being made to her GoFundMe page.

For those in attendance the playgroup has also asked for people to wear purple, with the hope of celebrating Julie’s life with purple being her favourite colour.

The staff of Auntie Steph’s Playgroup

Ahead of the event, Mark Scoular, Manager of Auntie Steph’s Playgroup and Kenex out of school club, is eager for as many to come down and create another wonderful memory for Julie.

He said: “We just want the best for Julie really, we want to support her and her family.”

And the money will look to support her two children Sophie and Samuel, who love and adore her.

After losing their Dad four years ago, they now face losing their precious Mum too.

But the support for her has been amazing, already raising over £7,000, and the event will hope to get it even closer to the £10,000 goal.

The fundraiser will be a perfect celebration, with Julie working for Auntie Steph’s Playgroup for almost 10 years and has made a large impact on the children, parents and staff that she works with.

Well-known in the community and described as a lovely woman, and many people are expected to turn up to this event this weekend in support of Julie.

Whilst going through something as emotionally challenging as this, Julie is still putting a smile on her face and sometimes still comes in to the playgroup to catch up with the staff and families.

And it seems that she has had a huge impact on Mark both professionally and emotionally, with Julie being the godmother to his children.

This relationship is why Mark, wants to make this event an ever last memory for her, as he continued: “Everyone’s just devastated around her really but we are all here to support her.”

The event will also hope to encourage as many people to remember Julie, and show the love and support from the community.

The staff are well known in the community after helping out and and even doing small things such as trips in the local areas and taking campers out to the elderly.

As Mark added: “We are very well known in the community and we want to keep that up for Julie, especially in the long-term as well.

“We want the community to come together for Julie and if she’s feeling well enough we hope she can meet the people that are coming down.

“She has made a difference over the last 9/10 years to a lot of children and families lives, she has been such a big role model here”

Mark and Auntie Steph’s playgroup want everyone to know how special this lady is and the impact she has had on so many individuals.

If you want to show support for Julie there are more details on the fundraiser and tombola on their Facebook page.

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