Thousands of pounds have been raised for a childminder who is currently living with cancer. 

Sophie Byne, who is a close friend of Sandra Barbour, met her as she used to care for her three children. 

Her kids would regularly go to Ms Barbour's house for parties so they quickly became close over the last two years. 

"Initially she kept her diagnosis very quiet," Ms Byne said. "I was on Facebook and my old childminder posted that she was doing a 5k for breast cancer as Sandra has it. 

"I had no idea! She kept it completely to herself, I would see her every week at the group and would have absolutely no idea anything was wrong with her."

Ms Bynes went on to say that she feels that Ms Barbour doesn't really like a lot of fuss, but eventually did tell her that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was going through radiotherapy, and assumed that everything would be fine. 

Around August time Ms Barbour then revealed that she had gone through a procedure where a camera was passed through her body to check for any other signs of cancer. 

"The results came back and the doctors told her that she had cancer in her stomach, her bowel, and also her ovaries. This was massively devastating news," Ms Byne said. 

Ms Barbour then had to take six weeks off work to have parts of her bowel removed as well as a full hysterectomy. She is now still currently unable to work. 

Ms Byne along with a few other of Mr Barbour's close friends, including Jenny Louise, set up the GoFundMe to raise money so she would not have to worry financially whilst focussing on recovery. 

"On three separate occasions, I said to her that we would like to set up a GoFundMe for her and that we would be setting up raffles and fundraisers to help her, it wouldn't be like people were just giving her the money," Ms Byne said. 

"She just kept saying that she didn't want the fuss, but eventually she said that it was okay for us to do it."

The GoFundMe page has really taken off and currently has over two thousand pounds raised to help Ms Barbour. Click here to donate. 

The group of friends has also organised a Facebook event which will take place at The King's Head in Cippenham on Friday, October 25. 

"The theme is festival because Sarnie loves a festival (she’s still wearing her bracelets from the big feastival weeks ago). So paint your faces, plait your hair, and go all out to make it a night to remember.

"We are doing a raffle that night and the prizes are getting tasty so don’t hesitate to get a ticket," said Ms Byne. 

If you would like to attend the event, please follow this link.