​Our Story: The Sara Lee Trust

Helping local people for over 25 years

The Sara Lee Trust supports people in Hastings and Rother who have been diagnosed with cancer or another life threatening illness by providing free counselling, complementary therapies and group activities specifically designed to work alongside medical treatment.

​Since our beginning in 1996, The Sara Lee Trust ​has helped thousands of people and continues to help more by offering high quality care to those who need it most.

Sara Lee

Our story begins in 1993 when Sara Lee was diagnosed with a rare cancer.  She was determined to survive and began plotting her own care alongside medical treatment. Sara learnt about diet, relaxation and meditation, sourcing her own dietician and aromatherapist. With their help, she lived and worked through the next two years and spoke about how wonderful the therapies were. Sara wanted to help others with cancer to receive these therapies, which were difficult to source at the time and came at a cost.  

Sara passed away in 1995, aged just 32 years old, but her vision lives on in The Sara Lee Trust which her parents, Sally and Jeremy Lee set up to allow others to experience what Sara had achieved, To live life to the full, in spite of the cancer within. 

Read more about Sara

What happened next? 

1996

Our First Therapy Room

In 1996, the first Sara Lee Trust therapy room opened at St Michael’s Hospice in St Leonards-on-Sea where Sara's father, Dr Jeremy Lee was Medical Director.  

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Our First Patron

In 1996, Professor Karol Sikora became our first Patron. Karol is a British physician, described as a leading world authority on cancer. Karol said, “Support from organisations like The Sara Lee Trust is for many people a vital component of being healed. There is much we have to learn about the best way to treat cancer but there is no doubt that this approach can be very beneficial."

2006

Jo Brand

In 2006, The Trust celebrated its 10th Anniversary and also gained support from comedian and actress, Jo Brand who became our second patron. 
​Over the years, Jo has supported our work in many ways, saying,  "I am really proud to be able to help raise money for The Trust and make a difference for so many people in the local area”.

2007

A New Treatment Room

​In May 2007, The Trust opened a new treatment room at Rye Memorial Care Centre.  Having this facility in Rye meant that service users in the area wouldn't have to travel so far for therapies.

2009

Royal Approval

In May 2009, The Trust received Royal approval from HRH The Prince of Wales and the charity was named runner-up for The English Integrated Health Award at The Prince’s Foundation. 

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Our First Charity Shop

In October 2009, the first Sara Lee Trust charity shop opened its doors in Western Road, Bexhill-on-Sea. Opened by Lady Shawcross, the shop was originally opened for a three-month trial before a longer lease was considered after profitable sales. 

2011

Eddie Izzard

In July 2011, comedian and actress Eddie Izzard officially opened The Sara Lee Trust’s charity shop in Endwell Road, Bexhill-on-Sea.  Eddie also joined the team on celebrating the Trust's 15th anniversary. 

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Legacy Gift left to The Trust

The Trust receives a legacy gift from Nicholas Turquand-Young, a family relative of Sara Lee in excess of £1 million securing the financial future of The Trust. This legacy was invested in services and assets to produce new long-term funding streams to support care delivery in the future

2013

Sally is Awarded an MBE

In May 2013, Sally Lee was awarded an MBE for services to the community in Hastings, Rother and Rye. Sally said her award was for everybody else who worked for The Trust.

2016

The Trust Secures NHS Funding

The Trust secures NHS funding support with the local Clinical Commissioing Group (CCG) recognising that the counselling service provided by the Sara Lee Trust is an essential feature of local palliative care and therefore should be funded by the CCG.

2017

The Sara Lee Therapy Centre

In July 2017, The Sara Lee Therapy Centre in Sidley, Bexhill opened its doors.  
The Centre was purpose-designed by local architects Pump House Designs on a no-fee basis and provided a calm oasis for complementary therapy care, counselling and group support. It’s location in Sidley was chosen to support people in the area who may struggle to reach The Trust’s other bases in St Leonards and Rye.

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Goodbye Jeremy

On 24 January 2017, Dr Jeremy Lee sadly passed away, aged 80, after battling dementia for a number of years.  Jeremy was the medical director of St Michael’s Hospice for many years and is remembered across Hastings and Rother for his wonderful personality, compassion and dedication to his patients. He was passionate about The Trust and instrumental in its progress.

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The Trust is awarded National Lottery Community Funding

The Trust is awarded funding for 5 years by the National Lottery Community Fund to support new services delivered in Sidley, one of the most deprived wards in the country.

2018

I-Know-How Project

With Rother Voluntary Action (RVA), The Trust became the UK partners of a 3 year EU funded multi-national project aimed at developing services and other tools to support people living with cancer back to a more active life.

2020

Hub on Rye Hill

In 2020, despite the Coronavirus pandemic, The Trust became one of the first organisations to begin services at Rye's Hub on the Hill, a state of the art community and wellbeing centre. 

2021

Our 25th Year!

In 2021, The Trust celebrated its 25th Anniversary and proud to say they have supported thousands of people since founded in 1996. 

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What would Sara say?

Sally Lee, Sara's mother said, "I think Sara would say thank you for listening and thank you to all the many people past and present who made my dream a reality."

2022

Goodbye Sally

On 8th July 2022, Sally sadly passed away, aged 85, after working tirelessly until the end to support local people and their families.
Before her passing, she wrote a quote for the Trust's newsletter, in which, she said, "I am so very grateful for the efforts of all those involved in the Trust, both past and present in enabling us to support so many local people affected by life threatening illness. My direct day to day involvement is now coming to an end but I am delighted to say that my son Tim has recently joined our Board of Trustees and will continue to provide a link to Sara’s vision that has and will continue to guide us as we strive to support more people into the future."

2023

New Hall Space 

In March 2023, our renovated and expanded Therapy Centre opened its doors to service users. Now with two therapy rooms, two counselling rooms and two large group spaces, the Centre provides space to support more than double the number of people than before the pandemic.

The new building is highly eco-friendly, with air-source heating, solar panels and above-standard insulating materials. Lower running costs means more of our funding can go to support those in need.

What about the next 25 years?

There are still hundreds of local people every year that need our support.
We hope that you will support us as we move forward to the future.