Hugh Grant Blooms For Charity Appeal

British actor Hugh Grant, best known for his roles in a series of romantic comedies, has pledged his support for the annual major fundraising campaign of one of Britain’s most well known cancer charities.

The 47-year-old actor is the face and voice behind this year’s Daffodil Day Campaign, the flagship fundraising event for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Grant has recorded radio and television advertisements to highlight the campaign, which runs throughout March, as part of the organization’s 60th anniversary.

Marie Curie Cancer Care provides nurses to terminally ill patients who want to die at home, and Grant first came into contact with the organization when his mother, Fynvola, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer eight years ago. She was under the care of Marie Curie Cancer Care nurses when she passed away in 2001.

“Mum was very determined – as apparently most people are in her situation – to die at home and it simply wouldn’t have been possible without them,” said Grant in an interview in the Daily Telegraph. “She was in quite a lot of pain and very weak and needed 24-hour care. They were just incredibly discreet and good humored, and above all, astonishingly kind.”

The Marie Curie Cancer Care Daffodil Day campaign is due to launch on March 2, and the advertising will focus on the things people want to do when they have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The organization hopes to encourage as many people as possible to wear Daffodil badges during March, or to purchase other Daffodil Day merchandise such as umbrellas, dog tags, “wellies” (boots), and of course flowers. Merchandise will be available from street sellers all over Britain, as well as online.