Mary’s Gift

This is a picture of Mary Sibbald on her wedding day in the 1940s. After she died in 2023, we discovered Mary had remembered GUTS in her Will. We know little else about her, except that after successful treatment for bowel cancer at the Royal Surrey in the 1990s, Mary decided that GUTS would make good use of any money left after her death. We certainly will do.

Over the past decades, sums left to us as legacies have helped GUTS to commit to long-term projects secure in the knowledge that they will be financially sustainable.

A current example is the CITRUS project, now entering its 5th year and receiving more than £30,000 annually from GUTS, thanks in no small part to legacy income. This project, which
is being run with help from a number of patients here at the Royal Surrey and at several other cancer centres across the country, will eventually provide a database of information relating to patients’ experiences of symptoms and side effects. This will be used to help future patients make more informed decisions about their treatment, and better manage the way they feel during that treatment.

Leaving a charitable bequest is a legacy in the truest sense, a gift that has the power to have a positive impact on generations to come.