Cleveleys-based EastEnders star says she had to use foodbank after being treated for cancer

Cleveleys-based former EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison says she had cash problems and was forced to use a food bank after being treated for womb cancer.

Fergison, who played Heather Trott on the BBC soap from 2007 until 2012 - and appeared in Celebrity Big Brother and The IT Crowd - was diagnosed in 2015, and spoke out about her condition in April 2024.

She told OK! Magazine she had a hysterectomy and experienced early onset menopause due to the treatment before being given the all-clear.

She told a national newspaper her treatment forced her to stop acting, which caused her money issues, as well as mental health problems.

Fergison, 60, revealed she had been supported financially by former EastEnders colleague Dame Barbara Windsor. But this help had run out after Dame Barbara died in 2020 aged 83.

"I didn’t have any money to do a weekly shop, I was trying to pay too many debts," she said.

"It was a really difficult time. Lots of people can relate to it. You’re trying to find a penny. You’re literally looking down your settee to see if you can find a quid."

She told how she "cried and cried" after being advised to use a foodbank by Citizens' Advice.

"How could I have been earning that much money and now I am here?," she asked.

However, since being supported by the food bank, who Fergison called "angels", she said she has not needed their help again.

Instead, Fergison said she has been able to return to work in pantos and singing in restaurants.

"I hope other people can relate to it. I really want to stress that food banks are a service," she said.

"They’re there for you to use so please do not feel embarrassed or that it’s a weakness. Whatever the reason, you deserve help. We have a right to be able to live like a human being and do it in a dignified way."

Fergison has also been in Little Britain sketches and Your Face Sounds Familiar, and appeared in the Netflix show Hard Cell with Catherine Tate in 2022.

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