Thank you for visiting this fundraising page, which has been set up to make it easier for people, who don't live locally to Hannah, to donate to the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust.
Update 15/4/12. Oh my goodness! Thank you everyone for your wonderful donations. Hannah and all our family are overwhelmed by the kindness, generosity and wonderful messages of support you've all shown and thank you to the McGowans of New Zealand and to everyone who has been so generous - all donations are very gratefully received, whatever you can afford!
It means so much to us to know so many people care and you're helping us make one step closer to finding a cure for Hannah and others like her.
Sadly, since setting up this Just Giving page, two of Hannah's dear friends, Annie and Christie have lost their brave battles with their cancerous brain tumours. It's obviously been very upsetting for Hannah and all our family, but it cannot compare to what their families have been going through.
Hannah's Story:
In August 2008, Hannah, aged 15, was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour. She had two operations, at Alder Hey children's hospital, to remove the tumour and also underwent 6 weeks of radiotherapy and several months of chemotherapy. Sadly, the tumour started to grow back again, so in January 2009, Hannah had a further operation to remove it. She had a stroke during this operation, which left her with a left sided weakness. With great determination and a lot of effort, she learnt to walk again and although she was really weak and sickly she managed to pass her GCSE's with flying colours! Hannah underwent a futher 12 months of chemotherapy. She has also past her A Levels too and is at Chester University studying to be a primary school teacher.
Despite being extremely poorly, Hannah set herself the challenging target of raising £10,000 by her 16th birthday, in July 2009. This target was soon exceeded thanks to generosity of so many extremely kind people, so Hannah set a new target of £20,000 and then £30,000, then £50,000. She now wants to raise a million! The target you see on this page is a Justgiving target only. You can also give directly to Hannah or her family who will ensure all money is banked into her Umbrella Fund.
To read more about Hannah and her fund-raising efforts please visit her Umbrella Fund page:
http://braintumourtrust.co.uk/helping-us/groups/hannah-louise-jones-fund
Awards:
Hannah was picked to be local radio station; Dee 106.3's Child of Courage for 2009.
On 8th November 2009, Hannah was absolutely thrilled to be presented with the BBC Switch Live Teen Hero Award. It was the first time we've seen her lost for words! Thank you to her friend Luke for nominating her, it was the best experience you could ever give her.
Olympic Torch: Hannah will be carrying the Olympic Torch through Hawarden, Nr Chester, on 29th May, between 5pm and 5.30pm, if you're around then, please come and cheer her on, if you have a Hannah Banana hoody, wear it with pride! She's carrying it on behalf of all brain tumour sufferers.
Thank you so much also to Luke Tillen (founder of the Torbay Holiday Helpers Network) and his lovely wife, Suzanne, you too have given Hannah some wonderful experiences (nominating her for the Wellchild Award in August 2011- where she got to meet Prince Harry! and also the Rotary Young Citizen Award (April 2012) which has prompted a flurry of activity on her Just Giving page and requests for hoodies too!
Hoodies:
If anyone would like to place an order for a hoody, please contact me at SDBTT.hannahbanana@gmail.com
Thank you to all Hannah's friends and her dear sisters, Molly and Alexis too. You're both such beautiful and supportive sisters. Thanks too to Trevor Jones and all his generous sponsors for his Iron Man Challenge. There are so many people who have been so supportive and generous in their donations and help with fund-raising. Too many to mention here. You know who you are, so Thank you!
If you're a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
Many Thanks
Jan Smith
(Hannah's Auntie)
