Let’s help a Figgy friend

This is a different one from me, but an important one. Yesterday I found out that my friend Jo Evans has breast cancer - a diagnosis that sadly so many people receive. I’m going to share some information here from Jo’s friend Beth McElligott regarding the treatment plan and what they need:

Jo was diagnosed in March and underwent surgery which seems to have been successful. To prevent the return of the cancer, chemotherapy is still the standard treatment after surgery. However, there is a relatively new groundbreaking genomic test which will show whether Jo might actually be able to avoid chemo and instead proceed straight to hormone therapy.

This test (called Oncotype) is currently only available on the NHS to post-menopausal women. Jo doesn‘t fit this criteria but her cancer specialist feels the results would be valid in her particular case. Sadly, due to NICE rules, self-funding is the only option for Jo and the test costs £3,000 in the UK. Chemotherapy can have profound effects on the body, including pushing women of Jo’s age into a premature menopause, so avoiding unnecessary treatment could greatly benefit Jo in the long-term.

The JustGiving page for Jo

Some background - I met Jo when I was interviewed for a job at the University of Exeter, Jo was one of the interview panel. Over the years (I worked there for 12+ years) we worked together we got on really well, and Jo’s ever-calm and practical nature really benefited me (and other colleagues). Jo started Figgy’s Puddings with her husband Richie while she was on maternity leave with their eldest daughter, Katy (I mean I was having a good day if I managed to get out of my pyjamas on maternity leave, so I’ve always found this amazingly impressive!) and they have steadily built the business up to a multi-Gold-award winning Christmas pudding brand which has hundreds of loyal customers. To build a small, independent business is no mean feat (and margins are always tight, there are no Amazon-style profits in micro businesses) - and a seasonal business at that - is frankly pretty incredible.

At that time well over a decade ago, Jo asked my partner Darren (a graphic designer) and myself to design the Figgy’s Puddings logo, which is still their logo today - the pudding illustration is the one I drew, and it still gives me a thrill to see it on the side of the Christmas pudding postage box when it arrives each year.

Fast-forward to Covid lockdown times, and in the heat of summer Jo asked us if we could design new retail packaging for Figgy’s, as they were branching out with their puddings into retail outlets such as delis, high end garden centres and independent food businesses. You can read my case study on the project here, but suffice to say it was FUN - being given virtually free rein to create something so fun and different is not a brief that comes along very often! (note - the red-haired children on the box are based on Jo and Richie’s children!)

Jo has always supported my work and had faith in me that I could produce the illustrations that would help to build their brand, even when I wasn’t working as a ‘proper’ illustrator, and still now we do the occasional collaboration/giveaway together and she recommends me to other businesses. This support has helped to give me a belief that I can tackle projects like these - I don’t think Jo realises how important her support has been!

I have supported Jo in the crowdfunder that Beth has set up for her. We all know families and friends who have been touched by cancer in some way, and a bit of support goes a very long way in difficult times like this. If you have enjoyed a Figgy’s Pudding, I wondered if you could consider supporting Jo and Richie as they navigate this challenge.

Big love xx

Support Jo’s treatment - JustGiving page

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