A Leeds-based family-run breast cancer charity has celebrated a monumental milestone this year by reaching £500,000 in fundraising over the last 20 years. Sarah’s Pink Events, founded by Sarah Pattinson over 20 years ago, has put on various events throughout Leeds since their first Pink Ball in 2005.

Sarah organised the ball in the wake of her sister, Kimberley’s, 2004 diagnosis. Sarah wanted something to distract Kimberley from her treatment and aimed to fundraise around £3000. The event was a huge triumph, with Sarah raising over £10,000, and the success continued.

The Pink Events committee was formed, and a variety of events followed, from fashion shows to wine tastings, tribute nights and more. Sadly, in November 2009, Sarah was diagnosed, followed by Sarah and Kimberley’s mother, Maureen, in January 2010. This was a devastating blow to the family - with Kimberley having recovered, they all thought they had received their fair share already.

Both Sarah and Maureen made their recoveries and soon restarted their fundraising. Having both been treated by the team at St. James’, they found that there was a requirement for additional resources within the Breast Care Unit which the NHS Trust couldn’t fund, and so St. James’ Breast Care Unit became an important area for which the Pink Events fundraised on behalf of – they have since donated over £245,000 in funding, equipment and research with a further £70,000 earmarked for 2026 already. Donations to Cancer Research UK, which are allocated to research relevant to breast cancer, have totalled £115,000.

Sadly in 2019 Kimberley was re-diagnosed, which was subsequently found to be a genetic form of cancer named PALB2 which affected Sarah too. Kimberley went through treatment and surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic, and while on her road to recovery, Sarah discovered a secondary breast cancer in 2021. This devastated the family all over again, as unfortunately Sarah couldn’t be saved. Sarah passed away in Wheatfields Hospice in October 2023 surrounded by her family: husband Steven, Daughter Lucy-Jayne, son Mitchell and Grandson Luca.

The committee, made up of Kimberley, Maureen, James (Sarah’s nephew) and Mandy (Sarah’s aunt), took a break from fundraising and wondered whether to continue without Sarah’s shine, as it could never be the same; however, they decided to carry on Sarah’s legacy with James taking over as chairman and renaming the charity Sarah’s Pink Events, and they have since regained their momentum, including reaching their half-a-million-pound milestone. James recently spoke on BBC Radio Leeds and has said that the charity is targeting £1 million by the end of 2035.

The Sarah’s Pink Events team has a full calendar for 2026 with various events planned as well as a supportive group of followers who will be running marathons, climbing and swimming on their behalf to help them hit their next landmark fundraising amount. They will continue to work closely with the team at St. James’ to assess where the gaps in funding are and how they can help increase the quality of patient diagnoses, outcomes and care. The organisation also understands the important need for research and has recently allocated funding via the University of Leeds into the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer, which can be very difficult to treat, through ways of making the cancer cells more receptive to chemotherapy.

The Sarah’s Pink Events team can be found through their social media pages (Instagram - @pinkeventsltd / Facebook – Pink Events) and can be contacted regarding attending events, volunteering or fundraising on their behalf. Keep an eye out for their monthly posts reminding their followers to check themselves too.