Wedding anniversary has a silver lining

Michele and Andrew Warburton

Your Chronicle: backing the £100,000 Christies Oldham Appeal

SILVER wedding couple Michele and Andrew Warburton wanted to share the happiness of renewing their marriage vows with family and friends.

But instead of asking for gifts for the occasion, they instead decided to support the Christie’s at Oldham Campaign.

Michele (47) had already raised £276 for the appeal by doing the 10K BUPA run in Manchester.

And the couple added another £620 to the total with donations made for their anniversary — as well as an amount sent directly to the charity on their behalf.

Michele, who works for the patient advice and liaison service (PALS) at NHS Oldham, the local primary care trust, explained: “We decided on the Christie appeal because both my parents had use of cancer services.”

Her father, Ron Manwaring, died 16 years ago, but had radiotherapy treatment at the Christie Hospital in Withington for lung cancer.

“It was such a drag for him having to travel there, it was a horrendous journey,” said Michele.

Her mother, Pamela, of Denton Lane, Chadderton, is recovering from bowel cancer and had chemotherapy treatment at the Christie.

Her daughter said: “She received such wonderful treatment there, and this is our way of saying thank you. It was good to be able to give something back for the help given to our family, and many like us, with such professionalism and care.”

Michele and Andrew renewed their vows at St James’s Church, Thornham, in July, and continued the celebrations with a party the following day at St Herbert’s, Chadderton. They also donated £400 to St James’s Church.

“It was a wonderful weekend. Our son Lewis plays in the orchestra at Crompton House School and he arranged for the quartet to play in church, and our other son, Ethan, did a reading at church,” said Michele.