'My pikin cancer journey inspire me to start my charity' - Nigeria mother

King Charles and Queen Camila recognise 500 volunteers as part of di upcoming coronation celebrations in conjunction with di Royal Voluntary Service.

Dem bin ask pipo to nominate volunteers, and almost 5,000 entries come in, with nominations wey dem put in for individuals between di age of 14 up to 103.

Nigerian Margaret Edet, na one of di pipo wey receive di award and recognition.

Dem award her for her work with Family Unit Trust, charity wey dey committed to raising awareness of cancer for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and supporting families wey dey impacted by cancer for Manchester.

Tori be say di 500 Coronation Champions wey dem chose las-las impress di judging panel with di impact of dia work, dia inspirational stories and commitment to volunteering for dia communities.

'Na great honour'

For inside exclusive interview wit BBC Pidgin, Edet say body sweet her well-well to dey named as a coronation champion.

"Na great honour not just for me but for all volunteers for Family Unit Trust who don selflessly give dia best to raise awareness of cancer within Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and support children and adult wey dey impacted by cancer." Edet tok

She add say na "big motivation for myself and oda volunteering teams to continue our hard work."

“To dey nominated for a Coronation Champions Award na great honour not just for me but for all volunteers for Family Unit Trust wey don selflessly give dia to raise awareness and support children and families wey dey impacted by cancer."

'My pikin cancer journey inspire me to start Family Unit Trust'

According to Edet, her experience as an undocumented migrant wey her pikin get cancer na im ginger her to start di charity. She say her daughter na her motivation.

"My pikin get cancer at eight months old and I notice plenti gaps for di BAME community in terms of access to support and basic amenities. At dat time, we no get papers for di kontri, no work, e dey very tough, and I no wan see anyone go through wetin I don go through." She tok.

"Dem diagnose my daughter with Retinoblastoma, cancer of di eye. Dis one unfortunately mean say her left eye need to dey removed. Dis difficult experience na wetin motivate me to set up Family Unit Trust, to raise awareness and understanding of cancer for BAME and to provide support for families, from diagnosis and beyond."

Family Unit Trust with di help of sponsors dey support families wey dey go through cancer wit creating activities for dia children and also catering for di elderly.

"We don contribute greatly to our community wia di outcomes for our cancer patients don improve greatly during di birth of our charity. We don restore plenti pikin dem from di streets back to dia parents wey dey struggle with cancer.

We don see our clients move from hospital beds to become volunteers for di charity. We don unite lots of families for our community as we notice plenti separation because of cancer. Most especially we dey proud of wetin our kids dey become." Edet tok.

Edet say di award go motivate her and her team to do more.

"I bin just dey do am out of love and to make sure say nobody go through all I go through, but God just decide to crown my effort with dis ogbonge award.

Moving forward, we go double up our work of making a difference in our community and we hope to spread to other parts of di United Kingdom and African kontries as well. She tok.

All 500 Coronation Champions go receive a specially designed, official Coronation Champions pin and a signed certificate from His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort and dem also invite dem to attend one of di official Coronation celebrations, such as di Windsor Castle Coronation Concert or di Coronation Garden Party.

Who be Margaret Edet

Margaret Edet na di founder of Family Unit Trust Charity. Na user led Charity for Manchester - na non-profit organization wey dey dedicated to supporting Families with cancer.

Edet dey married to Pastor Tolulope Ajiboluwa and dem get three children.

Edet wey dem raise for Nigeria later move to di United Kingdom afta studying Accounting from di University of Benin.

She go University of Wolverhampton for di United Kingdom to study Finance and Accounting.

Afta her marriage, she move to Manchester wia she participate in plenti community programmes.

Edet say na her desire to take part and strive for change and be a strong voice for all, especially for di Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities -BAME.

She found Family Unit trust for 2020.