At 1237am on Sunday 3rd May Jack took his place as an Angel - he has fought a brave battle. We will battle on to find the cure for this disease so that other children, like Jack, do not have to suffer. ___________________

The 2 Simple Trust is a UK based charity which seeks to assist groups of vulnerable people to achieve objectives that would otherwise not be possible on their own; in particular, it seeks to provide support to the families of children suffering from a rare form of childhood cancer, neuroblastoma.

This is a picture of Jack Brown, a neuroblastoma sufferer, finally starting back at school in the UK, without hair, having undergone months of treatment in the United States.

The 2 Simple Trust was initially set up in April 2006 to help such children such as Jack who was the subject of 2 Simple’s first appeal. Following the success of this initial appeal, other families are now working with 2 Simple to raise funds as part of a general campaign by the trust to help all children and their families who are facing this life threatening challenge; there are currently appeals being undertaken by 2 Simple on behalf of eight children suffering from the disease.

Every year, around one hundred children in the UK are diagnosed with neuroblastoma. The overall five year survival rate of sufferers from neuroblastoma is 55%; however, for nearly 70% of children first diagnosed, the cancer will have disseminated to other parts of the body reaching what is known as Stage IV, or “high-risk”, neuroblastoma. “High-risk” patients, such as Jack, who are treated with conventional chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery have a three year survival rate of less than 30%. The majority of “high-risk” patients will relapse; there is no known cure for those children who do relapse.

At the present time, UK hospitals are only able to provide palliative care with the best hope of partial or medium term cures available in the United States at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center in New York. Therefore, a large amount of the funds raised by the 2 Simple Trust goes toward assisting the families’ ability to finance a move to the United States for treatment lasting for a period of six months or more.

The JACK Foundation appeal is different in that it is a specific appeal by the 2 Simple Trust in order to raise funds to support research into a UK based treatment for neuroblastoma. Jack has participated in trials of antibodies therapy at Sloan-Kettering and 2 Simple is looking to fund similar trials being started in the UK.

On May 21^st 2009, a team of up to 100 officers and staff from the Metropolitan Police, Essex Police, British Transport Police, Sussex Police, Cambridgeshire Police, and British Airways will fly to New York to run two half marathons over two days in Central Park. Huge support is being given by our friends at British Airways and Jet Blue Airways, JFK . Thanks guys.  Each team member will be running in uniform from the waist up in order to raise monies for the 2 Simple Trust.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor the 2 Simple Trust which will receive your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving will make sure that 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to the donation. When donating, please mention the full name of the person that you are sponsoring.

Should you wish to learn more about the work of the 2 Simple Trust, or more about other children suffering from neuroblastoma, please visit the website at www.2simpletrust.org.

Thank you for your support.