Proceeds from Sarah Harding's final single to fund cancer charity

The proceeds from Sarah Harding's last single are to be used to fund cancer research by the specialist treatment centre that cared for her.

The Girls Aloud singer has died aged just 39, after announcing last August that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer that had already spread to other parts of her body.

Harding topped the iTunes charts in March with her final solo single Wear It Like A Crown, which had originally been recorded 10 years prior.

Read more: Cheryl pays tribute to Sarah Harding

The profits are to be donated to the Christie Foundation NHS hospital in Manchester, which cared for the singer prior to her death.

The money will be used to fund research into preventing breast cancer among women aged 30-39 who have no family history of the disease.

A spokeswoman said: "Sarah was extremely passionate about breast cancer research and spoke often of the importance of funding this."

A crowdfunding campaign has also been launched in memory of Harding, in aid of the Christie's research programme.

At the time of writing almost £2,000 had already been raised by 119 donors to the JustGiving page Remembering Sarah Harding.

Organisers said: "We have been in touch with Sarah's management and they thought setting up a page would be a lovely idea to remember Sarah.

"Lets try and raise as much money as we can for The Christie who cared for Sarah in her time of need."

Harding's mother Marie announced on Instagram that the singer had died on 5 September. Harding had previously revealed doctors had told her she would not see another Christmas.

Her mum said: "She slipped away peacefully this morning. I’d like to thank everyone for their kind support over the past year. It meant the world to Sarah and it gave her great strength and comfort to know she was loved. I know she won’t want to be remembered for her fight against this terrible disease – she was a bright shining star and I hope that’s how she can be remembered instead."

Her Girls Aloud bandmates Cheryl, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle paid tribute to their late friend on social media.

Cheryl sent her condolences to the Girls Aloud fans.

She wrote: "I wanted to extend my condolences to all of our GA fans. We were like an extended family for so long and we know so many of you by name. I wanted to make sure you knew just how much your love and continued support meant to Sarah through her most vulnerable times."

And Kimberley Walsh said her heart felt broken.

She said: "Beautiful Sarah this hurts so bad. To wake up and know that you are really gone is too much to bear. Hearing your infectious chuckle was one of my favourite things in the world."

Roberts shared pictures of themselves together and wrote: "I’m absolutely devastated and I can’t accept that this day has come... Electric girl, you made us. You gave it everything and still with a smile."

Coyle said: "I am absolutely devastated!! I can’t think of words that could possibly express how I feel about this girl & what she means to me!! I know so many of you will be feeling this way. For now I’m sending so much love to you!!!"

After Girls Aloud went their separate ways in 2013 Harding announced plans to release a solo album, but it never materialised.

She had embarked on an acting career, appearing in BBC drama Freefall in 2009 with Dominic Cooper and movie Run For Your Wife in 2012, and later making a guest appearance in Coronation Street in 2015.

In 2016 she took part in Channel 4 skiing reality show The Jump but was forced to pull out mid-series after injuring her knee in a training session.

Read more: Sarah Harding's 12 greatest moments

That same year Harding starred on the West End stage in Ghost: The Musical, but was replaced mid-tour as she was still suffering pain in her knee.

She went on to compete in the 20th series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2017, in which she entered into a romance with US reality star Chad Johnson despite being open about having a boyfriend in the outside world. Harding went on to win.

Harding retired from public life in 2019, closing down her social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Her official website also went offline.

Watch: Sarah Harding's most memorable on-screen moments