Author Dr. Gillian Shirreffs raises over £30,000 for Beatson Cancer Charity

The event, hosted by broadcaster Laura Boyd and featuring a live performance from Brownbear, brought in over £2,600 in a single afternoon. It was a warm, emotional gathering—full of generosity, laughter and music—with supporters coming together to celebrate Gillian’s remarkable resilience and her powerful new book.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, Elephant is Gillian’s unflinching account of what followed: 800 days shaped by 22 rounds of chemotherapy, 15 radiotherapy sessions, two major surgeries, and the long, strange aftermath.

Told through WhatsApp messages, emails, tweets, stories and photos, it’s a fragmented but deeply human portrait of life during illness. Heartbreaking, funny, and brutally honest, Elephant captures what it feels like to keep going when everything falls apart.

Dr Gillian Shirreffs

This is Gillian’s second book. Her 2023 debut, Brodie, raised over £27,000 for Beatson and won acclaim for its dark humour and sharp insight.

Although Elephant is not a charity publication, the launch event was a fundraiser in honour of the support Gillian received from Beatson during her treatment.

“I didn't intend to write Elephant. It's a book that found me and I'm so happy that readers are now finding it,” said Gillian. “I'm so grateful to everyone who came to Elephant's fundraising launch for Beatson Cancer Charity.

"It was a brilliant afternoon of laughter, friendship and generosity, made all the more special by our incredible host Laura Boyd and our special musical guest, the amazing Brownbear”.

Elephant

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007, Gillian began writing while bedbound. A former HR director and English teacher, she holds a Doctor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, with her thesis exploring how illness changes how we see the world—something that runs through every page of Elephant.

Elephant isn’t just about cancer. It’s about love, pain, disconnection and being stitched back together by the people who show up. It’s a story of survival, told in moments—funny, sharp, chaotic, and utterly real.

Elephant is available now from Waterstones and https://intocreative.co.uk/shop/intobooks/elephant-gillian-shirreffs/