HAPPY Owlthorpe couple Miriam and Ian Tomlinson have shared the joy of their wedding day with two charities close to their hearts.
Miriam’s husband Christopher lost his fight against cancer at St Luke’s in 2014, while Ian’s wife Beth, also a cancer patient, died at Rotherham Hospice in 2016.
The two families had been close for more than 40 years and although they lost touch for a while following the deaths, Ian eventually reached out to Miriam through mutual friends and a new bond was established.
Now Miriam and Ian have found happiness together and following their recent wedding, where guests were asked for cash donations in lieu of gifts, they have raised £1,400, which has been split between the two charities which gave them so much support.
“We decided that would be a great way to remember Christopher and Beth on this very special day,” said Miriam, who used to be a St Luke’s medical secretary and now volunteers every week at our Gleadless shop.
“We both speak about Christopher and Beth every day at some point and it felt that sharing in this way would be a tribute to them.”
Our Community Fundraiser Ellie Matthews commented: “It is so lovely that this story has such a happy ending and that Miriam and Ian, after such an awful time in both of their lives, were able to find happiness again.
“This extremely generous donation really will make an enormous difference to the lives of all our patients, both at the hospice and in the community.”