Family celebrate in memory of Wycombe woman who died of cancer

The friends and family of Walter's Ash resident Linda Williams organised a benefit night in her memory, raising £1,765 for the charity which supported her.

Linda Williams hit the headlines earlier this year when she wanted to organise a party to celebrate her life while living with cancer, rather than planning a funeral.

After she died in March her close friend, Jo Oxlade, decided to organise a benefit night to give her family and friends a place to get together to remember Linda.

The fundraising event, in aid of Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, was held at the Riverside to a crowd of 95 partygoers.

In honour of Lin, who was known as 'Spitfire Lin' due to her love of war aircraft, saw people dancing to music and wearing costumes donning her favourite 1940s era.

The evening also featured resident DJ Jumping Jimmy Taylor, and guest DJs  Will de Frill of Swingrave, and Sara-Marina from Ruislip Jive Club.

There were dance routines by Swingrave, a performance troupe that Lin had been part of, and the attendees joined Quintin Juckes (of Jukes Jiving), in singing "We'll Meet Again", which was one of Lin's favourite songs.

The evening was attended by Rennie Grove Peace Hospice at Home nurses, Debbie and Fiona, who were part of the team that cared for Lin at home during her illness.

They spoke about Lin and the charity before accepting a cheque for the proceeds from the evening.

Jo Oxlade said: "The evening was a wonderful tribute to Lin. During her illness it was amazing that she organised the celebration of life party, rather than a funeral, as that was exactly what she wanted.

"For those of us who grieve her loss, we haven’t had a traditional funeral to come together and remember her life so the benefit evening gave us the chance to do just that.

“The care she received from Rennie Grove Peace allowed Lin to spend her final months in the comfort of her own home, which is what she wished to do.

"It was very special for Lin's friends to be able to personally thank Debbie and Fiona for caring for our friends, and to give them a round of applause and present them with flowers to acknowledge our gratitude to them.

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"We hope it was nice for them to be able to see what Lin's dancing life had been, as their intervention enabled her to keep up with it until she died

"We’re delighted to have raised such a fantastic amount for the charity. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everybody who came along on the night, DJed, danced or donated raffle prizes to make it such an unforgettable evening."