The hard work of a terminally ill mum, who set up a charity to help others with life-limiting illnesses get married, was recognised on national television.
Sidmothian Naomi Thomas, whose family home is in Manstone Avenue, was nominated by her husband, Graham, to appear on hit ITV show Surprise, Surprise.
Graham said: “She is fighting terminal illness herself, but she puts that aside to help other people.”
Screened on Sunday, the episode saw the 33-year-old mother-of-one reduced to tears after being told that a recruitment company in Taunton had offered to pay for a new member of staff for The Wedding Wishing Well Foundation. Naomi spoke to host Holly Willoughby about her battle with incurable, secondary breast cancer and her founding of the charity after the kindness of strangers helped her tie the knot.
Naomi said: “Three years since the day we started, I have been chasing my tail and I struggle with the thought of using money for a member of staff when I could use it for a wedding, so I think I’ll keep plodding on and trying to do it all myself.”
She added that the charity had to turn down 80 per cent of applications due to lack of funding.
The new member of staff was not the only surprise for Naomi, as Holly also told her that The Table Group had offered the use of their countryside venues for the charity to use. The final surprise was an all-inclusive holiday to the Caribbean.
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