News

Anne’s Experience as Trustee at Cherry Lodge Cancer Care

12th November 2026

Tell us a little about yourself

I am Anne Kapoor and I am a new trustee: my first trustee role! I’ve been in it just about six months now.

What were your motivations when considering becoming a trustee?

I came to Cherry Lodge because I had used Cherry Lodge Cancer Care for a service as I was recovering from breast cancer.  It was after the care I had here, that I thought… well, how can I give back something, after all, the treatment I had received was at no cost to me.

I just thought on a very low level, maybe I could approach companies and ask them if they wanted to donate products for those people who are recovering from the impact of cancer and its treatments such as chemo and radiotherapy, I thought of skincare products, toothpaste, shampoo, lip-balm, that sort of thing.

I wasn’t a trustee then, but they just said, well, run with it, it’s always worth a try! After a few knockbacks, I persevered and Cherry Lodge ended up building a cupboard, as some great companies sent boxes of products: they clearly wanted to be on board with a charity that was helping to make a difference after a treatment by giving a small goody bag, it’s surprising how a small gift can pick you up, there’s nothing worse than having cancer and coming somewhere and feeling like nobody cares. But here it is different.

On the back of that and some other initiatives I proposed, I was approached to be a trustee – and here I am.

What Skills do you bring to the position?

My skill set is (I’m bigging myself up here!) more on the marketing, PR and communications side. As with all charities, there is a requirement for donations, so I  thought that I could help with putting in grant applications to foundations that were giving money to health and social care.

So, my role these past six months has been to find foundations that give grants to charities for specific initiatives.  Currently, Cherry Lodge is exploring the need for community hubs around the London Borough of Barnet, putting together submissions can be a significant task. Many applications are quite detailed and can take hours to complete, depending on how much work is involved. It all takes time, particularly as some funders only open for applications once or twice a year and we need to get it right from the start as there is so much demand within the charity sector to raise funds.

Cherry Lodge Cancer Care receives no public funding at all, our services are free for all our members.   We run a charity shop in High Barnet and have staff salaries, so we have to raise about £400,000 a year to keep everything going. That’s a responsibility of not just the Trustees but those who run the charity operationally on a daily basis.

Why are you proud to be a trustee?

Because we can give so much to those affected by cancer within our Barnet community, by increasing our awareness, which we are steadily achieving.

It’s great to see the pride of our staff and members setting up and being a part of an event and the support and camaraderie that bringing people together creates who are on a similar journey. It gives a nice feeling that what we’re doing is the right thing.

For those people who are maybe a little bit timid… didn’t know how to reach out… walked past here a thousand times on their way to the shops, work, or on a stroll: now they know they can come through the door and receive something that they need. So, I think I am just proud to be able to be associated with all of the great work that everybody does here; they are an amazing group of people.