Volunteer co-ordinator Tracey Daley shares touching story ahead of cancer fundraiser at Good Friday game

We will be fundraising at our Good Friday home fixture against Nantwich Town for the Macmillan Delamere Cancer Information and Support Service at Halton Hospital.

This is a confidential drop-in service for anybody affected by cancer.

Many people connected to the club have been touched by cancer in different ways so this is our chance to recognise the invaluable work carried out locally by Macmillan.

In the build-up to the match, our very own volunteer co-ordinator Tracey Daley (pictured here with club president, Alan Jones) has spoken inspirationally about her own cancer experiences as she celebrates her one-year anniversary of remission from breast cancer.

Tracey pays emotional tribute to the NHS and staff who helped her through her treatment and likewise reveals how her connection to Runcorn Linnets has not only aided her own recovery but also supported her through other family heartaches.

Aside from her principal club role, Tracey is well known to fans from working in the clubhouse bar.

Here is Tracey's story in her own words:

October 2022 started a tough nine months for my family and I, however it set me on a path that has brought me to Runcorn Linnets. 

My mum was diagnosed with lung cancer. She needed to have half a lung removed in December, this news broke me. 

Five days before her surgery, I discovered an indentation in my left breast. I had biopsies in December and in January 2023, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and lost my amazing uncle the following week. 

I needed surgery and a course of radiotherapy, and I was terrified. My family were everything to me.

On the March 27th 2023, I rang the bell in Clatterbridge Hospital.

I will remain on a hormone reduction program for five years.

I will also remain eternally grateful to our NHS and the amazing staff teams that cared for me at this time. 

I started working at the Linnets during my recovery.  Then my dad died. 

Runcorn Linnets Football Club gave me a way out of everything that was happening.

It gave me a life on a Saturday that didn't have cancer and death.

It became the place that I could be myself, because I wasn't myself. I lost all of my confidence, I was depressed and I lost myself.

Even now I can struggle all week with depression, but I live for a Saturday, when I know I'll be safe, comfortable and be able to be me. 

I've made some amazing friends on the Board, with other volunteers, with supporters and our players alike.

I've had support off all of those people. Some don't even realise what they have done for me, or what they mean to me. 

Being involved with Runcorn Linnets has been a huge part in my recovery from cancer because I've learned that real recovery continues long after the treatment ends, and I'm still on that journey. 

I couldn't pick out one thing that I love the most about the Linnets, I just do love the Linnets.

It makes proud to be part of and so accepted by the team. 

As for the players - well win, lose or draw I'm forever a Yellow!

You can find out more about the Macmillan Delamere Cancer Information and Support Service here.