by our side
mariecurie.org.uk
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Celebrate 30 years of the
Great Daffodil Appeal!
Annie D’Argrosa and Sybil McCabe have supported the Great Daffodil
Appeal collections in Scotland for a wonderful 23 years. Will you join
them and help make this year’s appeal the greatest yet?
do our weekly shop and have
a coffee together in town.”
When Marcos died in
November 1992, he was
in the comfort of his own
home. “One of the Marie Curie
Nurses – Ettie Devlin – was with
Marcos the morning he died.
He had wanted to die at home
and he got his wish.”
The following spring, Annie
and Sybil did their first
Great Daffodil Appeal
collection, and they have
been getting behind the
daffodil ever since.
Annie and Sybil first began
collecting for the Great
Daffodil Appeal in 1992
after Annie sadly lost her
husband to cancer.
Marcos, Annie’s husband
of 17 years, fell ill with
bone cancer in 1988. Annie
cared for him at home for
the duration of his illness,
helped by her good friend
Sybil and a team of Marie
Curie Nurses.
“I have very happy memories
of that time because everybody
was so nice,” says Annie.
“A Nurse came in every evening
to sit with Marcos overnight,
and one would always come on
Thursdays so Sybil and I could
“I remember when Marcos
and I used to go to hospital we
would pass a Field of Hope – an
area where they planted all the
daffodils. Seeing it used to lift
me up and give me courage,”
says Annie.
...please turn over
To find a collection near you and register as a
collector, simply complete and return the form
enclosed. Alternatively, visit www.mariecurie/daffodil.
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19/11/2015 16:52
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“When we do collections,
people will cross the road
to give us money. Even
schoolchildren are generous.
People appreciate that we
are standing out in the street.
I remember one woman
thought we must be cold so
gave us some hand warmers
to put in our gloves.”
Annie and Sybil are
now both in their late
80s and so spend less
MC12050 BOS Newsletter_National DCF.indd 3
time collecting on the
streets, but they are a
very important part of
the fundraising effort.
They remain at the centre
of the collections by
providing refreshments
in the church hall.
“We like to give the collectors
a hot cup of tea when they
come in from the cold,”
says Annie. “I will always
support the daffodil because
I appreciate all that time
the Marie Curie Nurses
spent with me.”
For both of them, the
collections are about
giving something back.
“I enjoy meeting people
that are happy to give to
help other people,” says
Sybil. “If you help someone,
somebody else will help
you in return. It’s about
spreading the goodwill.”
19/11/2015 16:52
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