Okehampton resident Erin Chappell, who is suffering from a life-limiting condition, and her family are asking for donations to make her dream of travelling across the UK in a campervan come true.

Erin’s best friend set up the fundraiser in February this year with the hope of raising at least £11,000 so that the family could purchase a second-hand campervan so that Erin, who was diagnosed with cancer for the third time at the end of last year, can travel to her bucket list locations in a secure environment while her immune system is compromised.

Erin’s mum Nicky Hutchinson, said: ‘It’s something she’s always always wanted to do. I think she gets from me because I used to love camping and all that kind of thing and she just wanted to go around the UK because obviously when you’ve got cancer, it’s really hard to get travel insurance. So she can’t go abroad and having no immune system makes it impossible for us to go to a restaurant, or stay in a guest house or a hotel because you just have to be so so careful.

‘I think she just wanted to have that freedom just to go and feel normal, but be able to control her the environment that she was in.’

Erin’s bucket list places to visit include Scotland, where she has family connections, and Lincoln, where she was born, but she also hopes to visit other famous locations in the UK.

Nicky added that having a campervan would allow the family to go holiday for the first time since the pandemic hit.

She said: ‘We could park up outside a pub and eat in the van and feel like we were doing something.

‘If Erin catches something, not even covid, but if she gets a cold, it puts her chemo off. There’s so much around at the moment.

‘It’s just really to sort of facilitate normal life. It is difficult for her to sit up, so to be able to go down to the beach, park up and open the back doors will let her lie there and read a book while my son plays on the beach. It fulfils so many things for her. So she can have a bit of a normal life as well as the travelling.’

Erin is also using her story to raise awareness of the disease in young people in honour of the first teenage and young adult cancer awareness month, which took place this April.

Last month, the Teenage Cancer Trust teamed up with 15 other charities supporting young people with cancer across the UK by offering care and support specifically designed for young people. The charity funds specialised nurses, youth workers and hospital units in the NHS, so young people have dedicated staff and facilities to support them throughout treatment.

To donate towards Erin’s fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/f/my-bestfriends-bucket-list.

For more information about the Teenage Cancer Trust, visit www.teenagecancertrust.org/