How mother uses sunflower seeds to help keep memory alive of daughter who died aged 20

Every year she grows the flowers in her garden in memory of her daughter Beth who tragically lost her life to leukaemia in 2018, aged 20.

With the help of her husband Rob, friends and family, Andrea, who lives in Kingswinford, harvests and sells the seeds with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to blood cancer charities.

She has chosen to support Cure Leukaemia, which funds clinical trials and research to find life-saving treatments, A Gift to Lift, which provides wishes to blood cancer patients as a pick-me-up during harsh treatment.

Andrea has raised more than £6,000 to date and has recently been named Cure Leukaemia’s Community Fundraiser Of The Year at its annual awards ceremony.

She says she was “over the moon” to receive the accolade which came after she was granted Freedom of the Borough last year.

As well as generating vital funds, raising awareness of leukaemia and its symptoms, which can often be vague and resemble those of flu during the early stages, is also important to Andrea.

“Beth’s leukaemia went undiagnosed for many months because it’s so difficult to diagnose,” says Andrea, who runs her own bid writing firm.

Beth dreamed of becoming a primary school teacher and was studying at university in Liverpool when she was diagnosed with leukaemia.

She spent time in the Teenage Cancer Trust Young Person’s Unit at the QE Hospital in Birmingham where she met other young people undergoing similar treatment for blood cancer.

It was a connection made at the hospital that led to Andrea being given some sunflower seeds which kick-started her fundraising.

“Another parent Rachel Lord, whose son Callum is still fighting this evil disease, grew some sunflowers and called them her YPU sunflowers in tribute to Beth, Ellie, Marcus and another Callum, who all lost their battles with leukaemia,” explains Andrea. “She gave me some seeds and I have grown them every year. I grow 20-30 and save all the seeds to resell.

“They grow really well and it’s really easy to harvest them, you scrape out the seeds and let them dry out. I’ve sent sunflower seeds all over the country.”

Andrea was delighted to discover a variety of pink sunflowers and now plans to grow the flowers and harvest the seeds to sell in the future. “Pink was Beth’s colour. Nothing screams Beth more than pink sunflowers,” she says.

In January, while skiing in Andorra, Andrea unfortunately was forced off the slopes and suffered a broken arm, thumb and dislocated shoulder.

But she decided to put her “not able to ski” time and good arm to use by setting herself a challenge to raise money for Cure Leukaemia.

After vowing to make one snowball for every £5 donation that came in, she managed to raise £734, and make a total of 136 snowballs, in just five days. “I did get paid by several friends to stay inside, rest and keep warm,” she says.

Last year, haulage firm JJX Logistics, which is based in Pensnett, also found a way to pay tribute to the university student by naming the latest truck in their fleet Our Beth.

“JJX Logistics owner John Joseph Donovan made this fantastic offer to name their latest truck ‘Our Beth’ and incorporate the Cure Leukaemia logo along with Beth’s sunflowers to raise awareness of this killer disease and help raise more money for vital research into a cure,” explains Andrea.

In 2020, Andrea and her friend, Carly Grandini Williams, raised £2,000 for charities Dudley Mind and A Gift to Lift by selling calendars featuring their parody photographs of famous paintings, films and album covers.

Their endeavours saw them named Dudley Covid Community Champions during an awards ceremony hosted by Dudley Council for Voluntary Service (DCVS) and Black Country Radio for providing light relief and laughter.

The pair, who shared their comic images on their Facebook page Andrea & Carly’s Laughter Emporium to ease the boredom and gloom of lockdown, also received a personal note of thanks from the Lord Lieutenant for the West Midlands for their charity efforts. And in May last year, they were honoured alongside other volunteers and frontline workers for their work during the Covid crisis at a garden party at Himley Hall where they were presented with the Freedom of the Borough by Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Anne Millward.

The friends have also raised money for their chosen charities by holding a ‘mystery night away sweepstake’. They drew up a list of more than 60 locations and invited their Facebook followers to buy tickets at £5 per location before holding an FA Cup style draw to choose a location.

“I don’t do it for the recognition,” Andrea. “I do it for Beth and her memory. It helps to keep my mind active and I feel I’m giving something back,” she tells Weekend.

n To order sunflowers in aid of Cure Leukaemia, visit www.cureleukaemia.co.uk/sunflowerseeds/