CANCER is one of the harshest diseases people face in the 21st century.

It can affect anyone at any time in their lives but Somerset Breast Cancer Now wants to help people fighting the disease.

The charity was founded in 1997 by Christine Piper, who died in January 2016 following a battle with the disease and the long-term effects of earlier treatments.

During her time at the charity, Christine was honoured with awards including the Bristol Evening Post's Woman of courage award and the BBC Inspiration Award and was also involved in an all party parliamentary committee on breast cancer.

Her daughter, Holly Macbeth, was determined to continue her mother's legacy and took the reigns as the charity's chairman in 2016.

Holly said the charity has continued to be a success since her mother's death and it has had a bumper year, raising more than £18,000 to help people fighting cancer.

She said: "We want to keep striving forward in raising funds for the vital research and care needed during and after treatment and support for all families involved.

"We have hosted some fantastic events this year and raised more than £18,000.

"Our greatest achievement this year was our annual breast cancer ball in December.

" It was our main event of the year and we managed to raise more than £7,000 but any achievement is an achievement, no matter how small."

Holly said the charity has a number of big fundraisers planned for next year and she is thankful for the support the charity receives from the public.

"Next year we want to raise even more money," Holly said.

"We will have our main events back up and running such as ladies night which we will be hosting for the tenth time.

"And shop for a cure for Christmas and our 12th annual breast cancer ball are going to be a sell out success as always.

"We are hoping to host a summer event too and my husband, Ian, will be riding the ride London to Surrey over 100 miles for our charity along with many other people who are looking to do events or challenges in 2020.

"We couldn’t do this without the loyal support of our local community.

"We are so very fortunate to have a huge following and the generosity from the public never fails to amaze us each year without them and support from local businesses.

"We just couldn’t do these events and as long as they want to support and attend we will continue to host them."