Cheryl Tweedy and the rest of Girls Aloud have rallied together to make their late bandmate Sarah Harding’s last wish come true.
Sarah passed away in September 2021 from breast cancer. She was only 39.
In a touching new article written for British Vogue, Cheryl has detailed her friendship with Sarah, and how she and Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle came to organise Sarah’s Primrose Ball, which takes place at The Londoner Hotel on 8 October.
Feeling numb and helpless after Sarah’s diagnosis in 2020, Cheryl, 39, remembers asking her friend “over and over again” if there was anything she needed.
“Finally she said to me: ‘I would love you to create an evening, a gala of some kind for me. If I am here and can attend I will be able to thank those who have helped me through all of this, and pay that forward in a way that will help others when I’m gone’,” Cheryl wrote.
“Unfortunately that wasn’t to be. Eight weeks later, Sarah passed. The rest of Girls Aloud and I took up the baton soon after, rallying together to make sure we made Sarah’s last wish come true. I feel a great deal of responsibility to make it what she wanted and help create and provide help for others moving forward.”
The ball promises to be a star-studded event, with presenter Fearne Cotton acting as the evening’s host and Olly Alexander, Ricky Wilson and Chrissie Hynde all performing.
All money raised on the night will be used to fund the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal research project by Dr. Sacha Howell, Sarah’s former consultant.
Cheryl added: “I would like to move forward by remembering Sarah before her illness. Although memories of that time do exist and are hard to shake, they hold no weight against the light she so brightly shone in the years beforehand. I have many, many more of those years to hold onto, and that is my intention.
“Her fun, bubbly side, her close-to-the-edge risky side, and her deeply soft and vulnerable side are some of the intricacies that made up Sarah in all of her glory.”
You can view the original article HERE.
