LIFE naturally turned upside down for Janey Elgey when she was diagnosed with cancer but little did she know that phoning to win a pink fridge would lead to raising £85,000 and helping thousands of other woman.

After discovering a cancerous lump in her breast in July 1999, Janey was prescribed the traumatic treatment of radiotherapy, every day for eight weeks. It was a bleak time that became even bleaker when her father died. "Looking back it was surreal really. I was lying in bed, about to go the hospital as usual, and my brother rang to say our father had died. I looked up at the ceiling and thought that life couldn't get any blacker."

Thankfully Janey's treatment was successful, but three monthly check-ups were required for the next two years, then progressing to six-monthly; this July she hopes to get the five year all clear'. She says: "With any form of cancer there is always the fear of it coming back and when I go for check-ups I'm still really nervous."

Janey, now 52 years old, worked as a film and television extra prior to being diagnosed and after radiotherapy she was straight back on the phone to her agent. "Mike, my husband, was worried about me not being well enough, but it was my way of dealing with it. I had to work to prove I still could," explains Janey.

"I fell into the extra work about six years ago when Michael Winner was advertising locally for the film Parting Shots' and I thought why not?' And I was asked to be a specific extra, playing John Cleese's wife - I just had to lie next to him in bed."

Janey found she could get more of this work and has appeared in sketches for Children In Need and Comic Relief and become the stand in for Jane Horrocks in the Tesco adverts. "I love it because it's a fun day out and making some money too!"

The world of show biz also provides an escape from reality: "I suppose I've enjoyed the balance. It's strange having film sets which are totally phoney and then my real world," she reflects.

In December 1999 Janey was drifting between these worlds, battling to get her life on track, when a magazine article caught her eye. "It was something about phoning to win pink things - pink being the breast cancer colour. There I was dialling to win a pink fridge, and I thought come on, Janey, you should read the article properly'."

And she did. "You could become a £1,000 challenger for the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer', pledging to raise the money but with no time pressure. I agreed and then forgot all about it until a letter arrived. I panicked but decided to try inviting friends round for a coffee morning."

Janey was spurred on when the morning raised £450 and began planning her next project. She recalls: "My friend Rosemary Shankster - another survivor who was a great support whilst I was ill - was helping me and we decided to try a quiz night. I started to realise how helpful people could be; Sainsbury's were fantastic, donating wonderful prizes and refreshments."

The quiz raised £1,200. Janey was beyond the £1,000 challenge but wasn't stopping there. "I decided to organise a show, being a member of Teddington Theatre Club, and in May 2001 we did the The Hired Man' by Melvyn Bragg and Howard Goodall. Kim Allen had directed it the previous year and she managed to resurrect most of the cast."

Janey even arranged for Princess Alexandra to attend the Saturday night performance and writers Melvyn Bragg and Howard Goodall came on the Friday. "I'm always still amazed by things you can achieve," she admits. "You kiss a letter and put it in the post and you don't know what it's going to do."

The two performances raised £7,500 and Janey was now unstoppable; more shows and coffee mornings ensued before she raised the stakes even higher. "The idea of a ball developed. A friend who lives in Ascot helped book Wentworth Club for a venue and then things just snowballed."

A committee of 19 influential people formed, including Diana Moran the Green Goddess, Vanessa Hoddle Glen's wife and Roger Cook. After 18 months of planning - and the securing of the Abba tribute band Fabba - The Glitter Ball' of November last year was a huge success.

Amazing prizes were auctioned, including two tickets to the Silverstone Grand Prix, a weekend in Prague and backstage passes to Elton John. This time Janey raised a staggering £66,265 - a giant leap from that first coffee morning. She proudly showed me a copy of OK! magazine, featuring herself at the ball, surrounded by celebs.

But despite all the achievement and glamour, Janey comes across very modest and down to earth. She stresses: "I always say that I didn't do any of these things single handedly. In fact one of the things I love is the way it brings people together in the community."

No doubt Janey has always been a warm, generous person - it was no surprise to find her four cats had been rescued from abandonment - but there is something unique about her attitude to life that comes from the experience with cancer. She ponders: "We all have times where life isn't so great and you wake up and things seem bleak, but you have to try and look for the good stuff.

"With breast cancer you lose your confidence terribly and you can't imagine ever pulling yourself together. I guess the fund raising has been a kind of therapy. I am now such a believer that someone is up there orchestrating things, angels or something - I know that sounds batty!

"It's hard to explain, but in a way I've had a change for the better because something so positive has come out of it all. I often wonder where I'd be now if I hadn't had breast cancer and I really think everything happens for a reason."

Janey's current project is a fashion show on March 30 at Hampton Hill Theatre, with Amanda Jane's dress shop in Hampton Hill displaying their spring collection.

"All the models are breast cancer sufferers, a group of ladies known as Bosom Buddies' who meet up to chat and support each other.

"We've had masses of help from local businesses; Elements hairdressers in Teddington are doing hair and makeup and also supplying goody bags for the audience and Townends estate agents in Hampton Hill are sponsoring the evening drinks.

"Whatever we do, there's always such a great atmosphere, a buzz of everyone being out for a common cause. And I want the fashion show to be like Breakthrough Day' in Hampton Hill - like you have Red Nose Day," gushes Janey. "They'll be pink balloons outside, a Ford Zodiac driving up the high street and pink collecting buckets going round offices. Buzz, buzz, buzz - a real fun, street party atmosphere."

Fun' is a key word for Janey. "I don't believe things should ever be too stressful to organise either," she adds. But although she enjoys the work, her main motivation is clear: "The real reason for doing all this is that we need to get rid of this damn disease.

"Breakthrough has its own research centre and I was totally inspired when I first visited. The work they're doing is so amazing, I felt like busking for them on the tube home!"

But Janey will soon repress her fundraising enthusiasm while taking a short break. "I promised Mike I would after the fashion show, because I haven't really stopped since my diagnosis. He's been such a wonderful support to me and this year is his 50th birthday and, hopefully, my all clear'. So we've lots to celebrate."

Despite having now raised £85,000, Janey won't be putting her feet up for long and is already planning a big event for October. Charity work appears to be something she was destined to do. Would she have realised anyway, had she not had cancer and tried to win a pink fridge? Who knows. But fate certainly seems to work in mysterious ways.

l Hampton Hill Playhouse are hosting two fashion shows on March 30 at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets are £15 (including refreshments) and the box office is 020 8979 9499.