Llangennech woman raises £70,000 for charity after losing dad to cancer

  • Nia Gibbs told ITV News about how her fundraising journey began

A woman from Llangennech has raised over £70,000 for pancreatic cancer charities after her father died from the disease.

Nia Gibbs runs an exercise class in her local village. When her father died, she decided to change 'Arumba Llan' to become a fundraising class.

"I started Arumba Llan roughly nine years ago with the hope of getting ladies fit in the village", she said.

"A few years later, I lost my father to pancreatic cancer and a year previously my gran had also passed and they said she had tumours on her pancreas.

Nia has raised over £70,000 for pancreatic cancer charities after her father died from the disease.

"I decided I wanted to change 'Arumba' to become a fundraising community. So it's a non-profit organisation and all the proceeds go to Europac and Pancreatic Cancer UK."

Nia holds three exercise classes a week and organises fundraising events throughout the year.

She runs three classes a week

"We don't charge much", she added.

"It's only £2 a class, but it all goes into the pot.

"We also do annual fundraising events. We have gigs, and the local community are absolutely superb. They come out to support us.

"We also fundraise for local charities. The girls get to chose or nominate a charity that's important to them and then we do a themed night and we raise money for these charities such as Latch, Prince Phillip Hospital, West Wales Poundies, COPD and many others."

She organises fundraising events throughout the year.

In total, she's raised over £70,000 for charity and is hoping to continue to support these causes.

She said: "Hopefully the money we have raised, especially for the pancreatic charities will raise awareness because many people in Llangennech have passed and I hope what we actually do will get people to notice symptoms.

"I feel so humbled. We started off as such a small group and now it's just a force to be reckoned with.

"A gang of fifty to seventy women fighting for the same cause. It's an absolute privilege to be part of it. I'm so proud of every single one of them - they're behind me one hundred percent."

Nia is one of the four final nominees for ITV Cymru Wales' Fundraiser of the Year Award.

The winner will join winners from the other ITV regions, for the chance to win Pride of Britain's Fundraiser of the Year.