Bowel Cancer Guernsey would like to extend its thanks to the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Support Group (IBDSG) for its generous donation of surplus funds as it ceases its operations. 

IBDSG has been active in Guernsey since 2012, providing a force for peer support led entirely by volunteers. The charity made the difficult decision to halt its activities last year due to a combination of illness and commitments, which meant it could no longer meet the requirements of operating as a charity.

The charity will, however, continue to value the strength of the community by maintaining regular meetups for those affected by the disease in the future.

The former IBDSG Committee, comprising Neda Borhani-Chick, Rachel Skinner and Judy Porter,  chose Bowel Cancer Guernsey as the recipient of their surplus funds.

Anne Brouard from Bowel Cancer Guernsey said: ‘We are incredibly thankful to IBDSG for supporting our work. Inflammatory bowel disease and bowel cancer are closely linked, and we are pleased to combine our forces to improve awareness of all inflammatory bowel conditions.

‘Through many generous donations, we have funded new equipment in the past which has helped sufferers of various bowel conditions. We will use this donation to continue our work as we support those affected by bowel cancer in the bailiwick.

IBDSG was initially composed of people affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), their loved ones, and health professionals interested in supporting the group. They aimed to provide access to support, information and practical advice on IBD.

Rachael Skinner, committee member for the former IBDSG, said: ‘After coming to the very hard decision to halt operations, the IBDSG Committee chose Bowel Cancer Guernsey as the charity to donate our surplus funds to. Their aims of improving the awareness, prevention and diagnosis of bowel cancer align with the aims we upheld in regard to IBD.

‘We would like to extend a huge thank you to all the past committee members and supporters of IBDSG.’