Group of Ayrshire 'diva' friends rally round pal diagnosed with secondary breast cancer

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A group of women who call themselves the Dreghorn Divas have raised more than £7,000 to support vital research into secondary breast cancer.The event, organised by Shirley Roche, Lisa Boag, Sharon Colvan, Louise Roe, Leigh Donnelly and Merron Watkins, was held at Riverside Lodge Hotel on February 3 to raise awareness after one of the members Shirley got diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.Over 200 people attended and enjoyed an amazing night kickstarted with entertainment from Pipers from Kilmarnock Pipe Band which included Shirley’s son Michael.Guests also enjoyed a live band, two raffles as well as an opening speech from Make 2nds Count Support Coordinator, Claire O’Donnell, who spoke about the work their charity does, and the impact that secondary breast cancer has on patients like Shirley and herself.Dreghorn Divas met each other at the local Mother and Toddler Group back in 2003 and have been firm friends ever since.

The group members had many get togethers and one night laughed at the thought of being the Dreghorn Divas.Shirley said: “We’ve gone on to meet regularly, celebrating our birthdays in our local, The Brae, weekends away, days at the races and we had lockdown zoom and garden parties.

We even did Come Dine with Me at each other’s homes.“Breast Cancer first invaded our group when I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in February 2017.

The Divas were all there with me throughout, even appearing en masse to fill my freezer with homemade soup so I had something to eat while undergoing my treatment."They took turns taking me from Ayrshire to The Beatson in Glasgow for my radiotherapy treatment and if I was having a bad day or a teary day, a message in our WhatsApp Group chat had one or all of