Dear Everybody, 

I’m trying to raise £26,000 by running the London marathon on April 25^th and I hoped that some of you might be willing to sponsor me.

Last year many of you generously helped me raise £16,221 and I’m hugely grateful. However, the target still remains the same and I intend to keep on running marathons until it is met. I would really appreciate if you could help me make this the final attempt – it hurt last time!

The £26 campaign last year was an attempt to persuade 1,000 people to part with £26. This year I don’t feel I can be so demanding, but I’d be extremely grateful for anything you might be able to contribute - and I hope you might consider passing this on to your friends and colleagues and anybody who might be keen to join in.

The money will go to The Neuroblastoma Society for research into a very aggressive and devastating form of childhood cancer.

Below are my reasons for raising this money, should you be interested. Thank you very much for reading this. Fingers crossed.

With very best wishes,

Dolly

 

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My darling father, a keen marathon runner, died in May 2007 and I’m running in memory of him and also in tribute to another brave and wonderful, much younger little man. The same night that he died, just a few hours beforehand, Daddy’s cousin Locke Blanchard also tragically died. He was 18-months old and had been very bravely battling Neuroblastoma for the last six months of his life.

 

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From Stephen Smith, chairman of The Neuroblastoma Society:

“Examples of what £26,000 would buy in our current projects include:

·         All the consumables and equipment required over 3 years to support the laboratory service in Newcastle which does the genetic analysis on all neuroblastoma tumours in the UK;

·         The annual salary of a research technician working on a project to develop improved methods for detecting cancer cells in children with high risk disease;

·         18 months' worth of the allowance for a doctoral student working on ways to 'reprogram' cancer cells using stem cell techniques.

Neuroblastoma affects roughly 100 children every year in the UK, most of them babies or young children. Although treatment has improved, it is a very dangerous cancer and mortality and relapse rates are high, with the chances of survival less than 50%. The Neuroblastoma Society is the only UK national charity dedicated solely to tackling this disease, raising funds for research by UK laboratories and hospitals into the causes and treatments.”

 

For more information please visit http://www.nsoc.co.uk/