After a brave four year struggle with metastatic breast cancer my beloved mother Mrs Meshar Mumtaz Bano passed away this month.
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and I was blessed to be with her during her final hours.
Photograph taken 3 months after her initial diagnosis
Words fail me as I cannot praise the Macmillan secondary breast nurse specialists Bethan Daniels and Claire Gaskell, oncologists and staff at The Christie, Manchester, St Bartholomew's, The Royal London and Whipps Cross enough who diligently cared for Mum during her most difficult days and treated her with the utmost dignity and respect.
Despite all the treatments and endless hospital appointments Mum never once complained about her illness and was always smiling.
She was a keen gardener, phenomenal chef and enjoyed travelling. She devoted her entire life to support her three children achieve their ambitions.
She was my 'Angel' and a beautiful gentle soul. I miss her dearly.
Mum enjoying her visit to Anne Hathaway's garden
Stratford-upon-Avon
Mum was a pioneer in her own right and understood the importance of supporting fairtrade and disadvantaged producers.
She religiously purchased fairtrade flowers, sugar, bananas and chocolates.
Mum supporting my humble fairtrade stall JBR, Dubai - 2011
She was very excited to see my progress and view all the new fairtrade products I had recently sourced.
I can only hope that she would have been happy to know that I will continue to campaign for Fair Trade in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates and educate more of her peers in the United Kingdom.
As I end this message I would like to take this opportunity to say that I would whole heartedly encourage all my friends and family to support a cancer organisation or volunteer their time to visit a cancer patient.
Please do not be afraid to ask a cancer patient and their carers what assistance they require as often is the case they will feel embarrassed, proud or an inconvenience to ask.
Please do consider small acts of kindness for example driving a patient to their appointment, making their favourite meal or fulfilling a wish or an ambition of their choice.
These priceless gestures will make the world of difference to their recovery.
My Night of Neon 10km walk for The Christie, Manchester
You will be rewarded tenfold.
I have attached my April 2016 Video Blog for you to view below.
Mums last visit to Dubai - February 2015
With much love and respect to other cancer patients and their families.
Sabeena
Meshar Mumtaz Bano at Edinburgh Castle - May 2014
This month I continued to recover from my right shoulder treatment.
I remotely attend two webinars about 'Understanding the home décor
and textile and apparel market.'
These webinars were organised by ITC.
This month I continued to recover from my right shoulder treatment.
I managed to attend a World Social Enterprise Day 2024 remote webinar.
I have updated my blog I wrote in 2021 about living with invisible disabilities and chronic pain.
Sign up to get the latest on fair trade fashion.
I'm Sabeena Ahmed owner and creator of The Little Fair Trade Shop. I've been an individual associate member of the World Fair Trade Organization since 2011 and together with my artisans I bring you a bespoke collection of ethically sourced fashion & gifts.
© 2025 The Little Fair Trade Shop. “We love to listen to our customers and for this reason we would be delighted to hear from you if you would like a bespoke fair trade product made especially for you.”
The Little Fair Trade Shop Ltd
Registered in England & Wales
Company Number 08189489
