Married couple Fiona Isherwood and Albert Yang decided to donate money to JHMRF at their wedding, rather than accept gifts from their guests.

The two made the generous gesture in memory of Fiona’s father, Michael, who died from mesothelioma in 2012.

“Finding a suitable charity was quite difficult,” explains Fiona. “I wanted one that my dad would have liked. He was a keen scientist and courageously chose to leave his body to medical research. When I found that the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund donated money to primary research, I thought that would be right up dad’s street! I set up a gift aid webpage and emailed guests the link and thankfully many people kindly donated money.”

She adds, “My father was a tremendous man and the greatest person I have ever known. He was kind, honest, compassionate, and most of all had a fantastic sense of humour. He spent most of his life working as a university lecturer but had many hobbies including genealogy and scouting. He never complained about anything in life and even up until two days before he died, while in pain and experiencing breathing difficulties he was marking exam scripts, as he had always done. I feel like the luckiest person in the world as I can say that Michael Isherwood was my father.”

Fiona and Michael Isherwood