RELATIVES of a cancer battler have reached her goal of raising £20,000 for charity in her memory.

After Jean Minto was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, she set out to raise £20,000 for Breast Cancer Care.

Mrs Minto, from New Kyo, Stanley, was given the all-clear in 2008 but died of natural causes in January this year, aged 69, when she was just £2,800 short of her target.

In her memory, relatives pressed ahead with various fundraising events and, following a successful charity night at Stanley Central Club on Friday, March 22, which raised £1,500, the total has reached £21,300.

Mrs Minto’s daughter, Elizabeth Hughes, of Annfield Plain, said: “I’m so pleased. It was a good night, tinged with sadness that my mother wasn’t there.

“I know she would be over the moon. People were so kind.”

Mrs Minto, who before retiring aged 60 worked with children with learning disabilities, is survived by her husband George, daughters Elizabeth and Joanne and four grandchildren.