ALTHOUGH she has had little to smile about for the past few months, having been being diagnosed with terminal cancer, 45-year-old Anita Brown has set up her own charity, Anita’s Smiles, to raise money for the Macmillan hospice in Midhurst.

Anita, who lives in Bordon, is also planning to hold a winter ball in aid of the hospice, having already organised a 1980s-theme Christmas party in June that raised £1,850.

Since she began fundraising, Anita has donated £2,150 to the Midhurst Macmillan Specialist Palliative Care Service while undergoing chemotherapy.

Anita his hoping to hold her Christmas ball on Saturday, December 17, her birthday, at Blackmoor village hall. She plans to announce further details soon.

Anita is backed by her family and husband Tim, whom she met when he came to mend her Sky television service, and they married in 2014.

The June party saw a gathering of family members and friends, some of whom had love hearts tattooed on their fingers and wrists in tribute to the brave battle Anita has been going through since, in her words, “my big fat British bladder tumour” was diagnosed.

Anita’s cancer is aggressive, fast moving and rare, and was diagnosed as terminal in April this year.

The diagnosis followed two months after she had felt the first symptoms of the disease. Initially, Anita thought the problem was the return of kidney stones she had last year when, during treatment, she twice developed sepsis and double pneumonia (affecting both lungs) - all within a three-month time span. 

However, instead of wallowing in self pity when given her prognosis, Anita has tackled it head on and is determined to spend her remaining time increasing awareness of her cancer and raising as much money as she can for Midhurst Macmillan to help others.

Now she has set up Anita’s Smiles to focus on giving a life wish or experience to a person over 40 who is terminally ill. There is currently only one charity in the UK that provides this service.

She herself was given such a treat after her son, Ashleigh, set up a Go Fund Me online page so that Anita could live out “a few small little dreams”, including driving a Lamborghini and “a huge shopping trip”.

“The page hit the target of £1,000 in 24 hours and I had a fantastic time,” Anita said. To help others to raise a smile, including those who may be going through difficult times, Anita bought £300 of flowers in the summer and, with the help of her friends Sue Wilson, and Sue’s son Max Wilson, and Janice Hack, Anita handed them out to people at the Forest Shopping Centre. “It brought a lot of smiles,” she said.

In her drive to raise money for Macmillan, Anita wants to repeat the success of her summer party, held at the Bordon and Oakhanger Sports Club in Bordon, but this time to hold the event in December when the Christmas theme will be more appropriate.

As Anita is a fan of the festive period and fears she might never enjoy another one, she wants this Christmas ball to be her biggest fundraiser to date. 

At her home on Monday, Anita told the Bordon Herald that she was still undergoing chemotherapy but in between treatments she was making memory boxes for her family and build-a-bear kits for her husband and son. The kits allow a person to make a bear which has a voice recorder.

“I have put messages on it because people who have lost loved ones say they can’t remember how their voices sounded,” Anita said.

“I feel there is always hope and if I am still here next Christmas I will hold another ball, but if I am not my family have promised to hold one for me.”