HIGH PROFILE SIGNING: Cherries Chairman Jeff Mostyn (right) – with DCCF founder Eve Went and Chairman Chris Thomas
AFC Bournemouth Chairman Jeff Mostyn is celebrating a new signing – after becoming a patron of the Dorset Cancer Care Foundation (DCCF).
Mr Mostyn, who has spearheaded the Cherries’ meteoric rise to the Premiership, is now the figurehead of the DCCF, a local charity which helps tackle the financial burdens of cancer patients throughout Dorset.
Mr Mostyn said: “I was honoured when the trustees of DCCF asked me to become the charity’s patron and I accepted without hesitation.”
He continued: “As well as causing physical suffering, cancer can place huge financial pressures on families. But DCCF has made it its mission to ease those financial burdens for as many people as possible and I intend to help it do that.”
The Dorset Cancer Care Foundation was founded in 2012 by three local women, Eve Went, Pam Jeffries and Leslie-May Harrison.
The charity organises a wide range of fundraising events to fund cash grants so Dorset cancer sufferers can afford everything from transport to and from hospital, to household bills and childcare during treatment, and wigs following chemotherapy.
DCCF has also funded major projects and equipment at Lewis-Manning Hospice in Poole and Poole and Bournemouth Hospitals.
With a background in insurance and a passion for football, Jeff Mostyn has been an integral part of the behind the scenes improvements at the Vitality Stadium since his purchase of the club in 2007.
He will now be helping to guide the success of DCCF, fronting its campaigns and raising awareness of its work across the county.
Eve Went, one of the charity’s founders said: “We asked Jeff to be our patron because he is a very determined and passionate man.
“Although AFC Bournemouth had limited finances and a modest playing squad when he first bought it, he saw potential in the Cherries and put his heart and soul into improving the club’s fortunes.
“DCCF is a growing charity with the potential to help a great number of local people, and we know Jeff is the perfect person to help us reach out to cancer patients and encourage more people to come forward and support our work.”
Jeff was welcomed to the charity at its recent members evening at the Marsham Court Hotel in Bournemouth.
He said: “We all know someone who has experienced cancer and many of us have lost loved ones to it.
“I will be spreading the word that DCCF is here to help you if you have cancer.
“And I hope to persuade everyone I know and meet to do a little to help the work of the charity, whether that’s by organising a fundraising event or simply by putting a coin in one of its collecting boxes.”
