A BRAVE mother has written a book all about Christmas to raise funds for a charity close to her heart.
Lesley Ankers, 46, of Woodnoth Drive, Shavington, has been receiving treatment at the day care centre at St Luke's Hospice in Winsford after being diagnosed with cancer last year.
Now, with the help of her teenage daughter Jennifer and other patients at the centre, she has produced St Luke's Little Book of Christmas, to help raise funds for the hospice and to say thank you for her treatment so far.
She said: 'A couple of years ago, I was reading a magazine article about Christmas and ancient festive traditions.
'This made me very curious, I wanted to find out more about all the things we do at Christmas. I started reading books and researching on the Internet.
'In 2004, I did a couple of talks at local ladies groups on the subject of Christmas from the information I had researched. I was a patient in the day care centre at St Luke's last December
and I offered to do a short talk about Christmas one morning. This was planned to last for 10 minutes. I started at 10.30am and finished at noon.
'All the patients and staff were joining in telling of things that they remember about Christmas and asking questions.
'Someone said to me at the end of the morning that I should put the memories into a book, and it all started from there.'
The book is full of memories, stories, legends and Christmas traditions from staff, patients and friends of St Luke's.
Members of the art group within day care painted watercolours to illustrate the book.
Leslie's former employer Barclays Bank Plc have chipped in £750 of sponsorship.
St Luke's fundraising manager Wendy Gibson said: 'All the patients at the day care centre, including Leslie, have worked so hard to produce this book. It is a real interesting read for both young and old alike.'
