It is with enormous sadness and very heavy hearts that Gloria and family would like you all to know that her husband Stephen Way, very sadly passed away on August 13th, 2024.

Stephen was a true gentleman, a giant of a man, incredibly kind, with an infectiousse sense of humour.

Stephen and Gloria had 30 fabulous years together, 25 of those married, and he will leave a huge void, not only in Gloria’s life, but the entire family.

Gloria would like to thank you so much for your generous words of support and kindness. And to let you know how much it is appreciated.

If your Charity has applied for a Grant and not been successful, it does not inhibit you from reapplying again.  Once again we have had a huge response from Charities all over the United Kingdom requesting Grants, and we thank you for thinking of us.

Rest assured we are dedicated to assist as many Cancer Charities as we can within a family run Charity. Please note only Charities who are successful in being offered a Grant are contacted. Please click here to read the full list.

Message from Action Cancer. It is a very exciting time for us all here at Action Cancer. The Caron Keating Foundation and Gloria’s involvement has made all the difference in spreading awareness of our unique breast screening service for women in their 40s and over the age of 70. The publicity has been fantastic and as a result we are now fully booked for breast screening appointments on board the new Big Bus.

Action Cancer’s new and improved Big Bus is now on the road. It will travel to 200 locations across Northern Ireland over the next year, delivering 2,000 health checks and 5,000 breast screenings. The free service will be delivered on board with some coronavirus-safe changes in place – including the use of PPE.

“We are grateful to have successfully delivered the new Big Bus to serve local people, in spite of the challenges brought on by the pandemic,” said Gareth Kirk, Chief Executive of Action Cancer.

“Our first Big Bus was launched by Gloria in 2006 and its replacement will carry on its legacy; saving lives and supporting people throughout NI for the next 15 years.”

Douglas King, Head of Fundraising and Communications at Action Cancer added: “The long-term support from the Caron Keating Foundation for Action Cancer’s mobile breast screening mobile – the Big Bus – has provided tens of thousands of women with reassurance. It has also saved the lives of women with no symptoms, with an early detection of breast cancer. Gloria’s role as Patron has leveraged further funds for our charity; we are eternally grateful for her passionate commitment to our work.”

We wish to thank everyone who has made donations however big or small, we really do appreciate every single one. As a family run Foundation it shows how deeply people feel. One example here is 11 year old Lucas Clamp who is the son of my Niece, Kerry. They were marshalling an athletic road race and spent five hours doing this. The organisers offered them either a £50 voucher or a donation to Charity, Lucas picked The Caron Keating Foundation. What a marvellous gesture from him, and we thank Lucas and Kerry for thinking of us. It shows it’s not just a family run Foundation, but a family member of 11 years of age can think of us and donate also.

Here you can read excerpts of some of the letters that the Foundation has received from the many organisations that have benefited from our grants. It is fantastic that they took the time to write.

On October 21st, 2019 the Hard Rock Cafe London celebrated two decades of its annual PINKTOBER campaign, supporting breast cancer awareness and research. The global brand raised over £18,000 at its annual charity fundraiser at the iconic location, with proceeds benefiting the Caron Keating Foundation.

Television presenter Gloria Hunniford, OBE joined 100 guests, partners and suppliers, alongside friends and family of Hard Rock and the Caron Keating Foundation at the event.

Guests dined on a delicious three-course meal that included Poached Scottish Salmon Salad, Roast Beef Fillet, and New York Cheesecake with a special pink twist. Cocktails were also suitably pink, including Pink Punch, Hard Rock’s new Pink Piccadilly Pimms, alongside pink sparking wines.

“Hard Rock Cafe is honored to provide support to those in need, and we’re exceedingly proud to work that the Caron Keating Foundation during PINKTOBER,” said Des Addis, General Manager at Hard Rock Cafe Piccadilly Circus. “We are privileged to offer guests the opportunity to come out to support this cause and gather for fundraising events to spread a message of strength, hope and awareness for those affected by this disease.”

Entertainment was headlined by the all singing, all dancing ABBA tribute band, The ABBA Sisters, packed with their best-known songs. Guests were also treated to a surprise performance from The West End Tenors and Classical soloists, in addition to talented musicians Glenn McNamara and the Joe Pettitt Trio throughout the evening. Funds were raised through a live auction and raffle prizes.

The Caron Keating Foundation are indebted to the Hard Rock for their fabulous support once again. To have such a huge international company support us in this way is just fantastic. We would like to thank all involved at Hard Rock for their extreme effort for putting together such a great night.

http://youtu.be/nEnHcjeAmLs

The first email was sent December 2015 and said the following . . . I would just like to say that I have purchased and planted The Caron Keating Rose – I will nourish it and watch it grow – as soon as the first rose bud is visible – I will post a picture in memory of your beautiful mum, wife and daughter.

The second email was received July 2016. And true to her words in the first email she has sent a picture of the rose she planted along with this text. . . I have watched it grow from start to blossoming and here we are. I actually got a lump in my throat seeing the rose – it also has 2 more buds waiting to bloom!

We here at The Caron Keating Foundation wish to thank her for taking the time to let us know and sending the picture.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

This family event held as a celebration of Caron’s life at The Dorchester Hotel, London on Saturday, November 22nd, 2014 was a truly fabulous evening. Gloria, Stephen, Russ and Caron’s boys Charlie and Gabriel were joined by family and many of their celebrity friends for a dinner to celebrate Caron’s 10th Anniversary.

It was an evening that brought 350 guests together as one big ‘family’. The atmosphere was electric right from the beginning as guests arrived to a champagne reception with Matt Baker giving a great Welcome speech. Also during the reception, two of Caron’s friends who worked with her on TV, Fiona Foster and Yasmin Pasha gave moving and funny tributes. Then it was into the main ballroom for dinner where Gary Williams and his Band welcomed the guests with some ‘mood’ music.

Gloria together with Russ took to the stage giving a speech to welcome the guests, where they were also joined by Gloria’s husband Stephen and Caron’s sons Charlie and Gabriel.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

When the first course was over, Gloria introduced a newly produced film to show how the Caron Keating Foundation works and how the money has been spent so far. With a working title of ‘Caron’s Legacy’.

http://youtu.be/nEnHcjeAmLs

After this Gloria introduced Philip Schofield on stage, who gave a marvellous tribute to Caron and told some previously unheard funny stories.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

Next it was Lord Archer who acted as Auctioneer for the evening. In all, eight items were auctioned, raising a stunning £75,000. We must say a big thank you to Lord Archer, who must be one of the best Auctioneers anyone has ever heard.

Following the Auction, Gloria gave an introduction to a video of celebrities who couldn’t be there which included Sir Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Neil Diamond, Michael Ball, Rob Brydon, Ant and Dec.

http://youtu.be/KXtHBGygZTw

Following this Gloria introduced Janet Ellis and Mark Curry to pay their tributes to Caron from when they worked together on Blue Peter.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

Janet then introduced her daughter Sophie Ellis-Bextor who gave a fantastic performance with her band, Sophie performed all her hits and more. We are very grateful to Sophie for joining us because she is so closely linked through her mum Janet, with Caron and her family.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

‘Woman’ (Gina, Mazz and Emma) then took to the stage and gave a stunning performance. We would like to give Woman a big thank you as they have supported the Foundation for many years, they also recorded ‘I’m a Woman’ which is currently on iTunes where all proceeds of the download go to the Foundation.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

Next, it was the turn of Jim Cregan who for the evening had put together a remarkable band ‘The Best of British’, and he introduced each band member individually. Jim who was with Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel for three years then went on to co-produce and co-write with Rod Stewart, and was his musical director for well over a decade.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

Among the band members was non other than Kenny Jones on drums. Kenny was a founder member of The Small Faces. He was then drummer for The Who, his innovative drum style has inspired many a generation of drummers. Kenny has recorded with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Wings to name but a few.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]

The rest of the band members were Josh Phillips (organ/keys), Ben Mills (vocals/guitar), Sam Tanner (keys) and last but not least Pat Davey (bass). They played a crowd-pleasing set of great rock standards including ‘Maggie May’ and ‘Come Up And See Me’ (make me smile). Breathtaking to say the least.

We can safely say, between Gary Williams, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, ‘Woman’ and Jim Cregan’s ‘The Best of British’ Rock Musicians they brought the house down. The dance floor was always full, in fact there were quite a few encores.

Gloria and family would like to thank you all for supporting Caron’s special 10th Anniversary Celebration Dinner in such a generous and thoughtful way. We also would like to thank those who contributed so freely of their time for the event in a truly supportive way. The Dorchester Hotel’s management and staff for their professionalism and generosity. Lord Archer the best Auctioneer in Britain, Christopher Biggins – no event should be without him. Carons long time friends and colleagues – Philip Schofield, Janet Ellis, Mark Curry, Fiona Foster, Yasmin Pasha and Matt Baker. Also the performers – Gary Williams and his Band, ‘Woman’, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Jim Cregan with the ‘The Best of British’ Rock Musicians. The Technical Team – Delta Sound, Creative Techonology, TSL Lighting, Pro Stage, Sassy Films, Marc Doust at KallKwik Sevenoaks and Lou Robey D&L Media. And particularly all of those who have so kindly and generously donated auction prizes.

[See image gallery at caronkeating.org]