Like A Bird; The LinmiR/Diana Kaganda ACLT Charity

The award-winning LinmiR Millinery is taking to the bravery of cancer survivor Diana Kaganda as an inspiration for a cancer awareness/fundraising campaign towards the life-saving work of the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT). The campaign will also use the beautiful face of the mother of two and her personal experience to inspire and instil hope amongst those who are going through the same experience she was in two years ago.

To launch the campaign, Diana and LinmiR will be hosting a fashion event, Like a Bird, where ACLT beneficiaries and supporters will be joining Diana for a unique catwalk experience to showcase LinmiR’s new SS2015 range of headwear. Designers Clisha, Erwin Michalec and wedding stockists Beyond Expectations will also be presenting complimentary outfits alongside LinmiR.

Like a Bird will have a fundraising drive which will have raffle draws in which a number of fashion items and accessories will be up for grabs. Starting on the 13th December, 10% of LinmiR’s SS2015 sales will be going towards the LinmiR/Diana Kaganda ACLT campaign. It will be an evening of fashion, entertainment and experience-sharing with cancer survivors and ACLT supporters sharing their experiences to highlight the charity’s work. ACLT will also be advising on the blood and organ donation process.

Diana Kaganda was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in 2012. She started chemotherapy a week after giving birth to her youngest daughter and had five months of intense chemotherapy and radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant on the 21st of December 2012. She went into coma twice and spent the beginning of 2013 in recovery whilst receiving several blood transfusions in order to maintain her health. Eighteen months on, Diana is enjoying life with her two daughters, Eilah (3) and Nailah (2). She is now out to work with the charity that helped save her own life by raising awareness towards its good work as well as the disease.
“After my recovery, my passion was to raise awareness of blood cancer and spread awareness to the African-Caribbean and Asian communities to wake up to the fact that many of us are dying because there is simply not enough of us on the bone marrow register and giving blood.”

ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust) is a UK charity, established in 1996 with a primary objective of increasing the number of ethnic minorities on the UK bone marrow, blood and organ donation registers. The charity was founded by Beverley De-Gale OBE and Orin Lewis OBE, parents of former Leukaemia sufferer Daniel De-Gale to provide hope and a healthy future to someone whole disorder may otherwise be fatal. Over the last few years, ACLT has raised the numbers of potential black/mixed race donors from approximately 550 to approximately 60,000 and saved over 60 lives