Ribble Valley sisters devastated by cancer launch 'feel good' family business to help others celebrate landmark moments

The girls lost their father, Graham Pomfret to liver cancer when he 40.

Heather was just nine and Jen seven at the time. The sisters were born in South Africa but the family returned to the UK and lived in Accrington before settling in the Ribble Valley after Graham's diagnosis.

Terminally ill for six years before he died, the girls' mum, Andree, treated every celebration as though it was his last with fabulous Christmas and birthday parties.

After his death the sisters carried on that tradition with their own children, celebrating at every opportunity.

But devastation struck the close-knit family again in November last year when Heather was diagnosed with triple negative grade 3 breast cancer at the age of 38 and shortly after returning to work from maternity leave after having her second daughter, Hattie who is now two.

Starting chemotherapy a week before Christmas, she had a total of 12 rounds before having radiotherapy during lockdown and completing all treatment in June of this year.

So when it came to celebrating her eldest daughter Neve's eighth birthday during a pandemic, Heather decided to channel her energy into making it a special day - despite the circumstances.

Heather, who works in human resource administration at Clitheroe's Johnson Matthey, said: “To receive the diagnosis was devastating and you have some dark thoughts at times when living through cancer, but I’ve been mainly very positive because you just have to get on with it.

"I wanted to make Neve’s birthday special as she couldn’t see her friends and was dealing with mum having cancer, so I came up with the idea of a bell tent party in the garden for us all to have a family sleepover.”

Bizarrely, Jen (35) texted her the next day with the very same idea.

Heather said: “After looking into the costs of hiring one, we thought, actually, we could do this ourselves.”

Over a bottle of socially-distanced wine, the sisters decided to set up their own business together – and PomPom Dream Tents was born.

Heather added: “We know life is short, so you’ve got to make the most of these moments with friends and family and create lots of happy memories. It’s nice to be able to do something together, something we love that’s completely ours and show our children we can do whatever we put our minds to. "

Now, the duo is busy providing luxury sleepover parties in indoor teepees and deluxe outdoor bell tents for children and adults across the Ribble Valley, offering a choice of themes to suit different customers, including rainbows and unicorns, mermaids, flamingos, football, jungle, Halloween and Harry Potter.

The sisters use CE-tested equipment and carry a certificate in infection prevention and control, to make parties as safe as possible and this will allow them to offer their service throughout the lockdown.

PomPom Dream Tents is offering a COVID-friendly contact-free package to help families continue to mark special occasions during the pandemic, as well as giving 10% off all parties to NHS employees.

And for Heather, who is a former student at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School sixth form, the new business venture has been something positive for her to focus on.

She said: "My family and friends have been amazing and a wonderful support for me and I have met other people, the same age as me with families, going through the same thing as myself and we have become firm friends."

To find out more about PomPom Dream Tents, or to book a party, visit their Facebook or Instagram https://www.facebook.com/pompomdreamtents or https://www.instagram.com/PomPomDreamTents/