We are raising money to fund a state-of-the-art intra-operative MRI (iMRI) machine to help paediatric neurosurgeons deliver the best results for their young patients.

The iMRI machine will be a huge benefit to children who have been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Currently, children often have to endure multiple brain surgeries to remove parts of a tumour. The iMRI machine will allow surgeons to scan their patients during surgery, enabling them to remove as much of the tumour as possible at once. By operating in this way, surgeons will have the best possible chance of curing their patient in the first operation. Families will also avoid an agonising wait between operations, and children will need to undergo fewer courses of general anaesthetic.

Myself and Ed will be tackling the national 3 peaks challenge over August bank holiday and will be filming a vlog of our training and journey. Last year we completed the Yorkshire 3 peaks in ten and a half hours. Over the course of the journey we walked twenty four miles, climbed 1500m and shared a few tears. In comparison, the national 3 peaks is 23 miles but with a 3064m accent which is twice the accent of the Yorkshire 3 peaks! Not only is the walk physically more demanding, there is 462 miles of driving involved and Josh has kindly offered to drive for us so we can get some well earnt sleep. This challenge should be completed in 24 hours; so we have a challenge on our hands!! What we need from you is as much help and support or even if you could donate. We decided to raise money for Nottinghams Children's Hospital because someone in my village has been having treatment there and it’s a great cause. Please find Sian’s story below.

My name is Sian Hopper and I am 16 years old. On April 1st 2018 I was diagnosed with a Pilocytic Astrocytoma brain tumour. On April 3rd 2018 I underwent a 6 hour operation to removed the tumour. I stayed in hospital for 5 days and then I was allowed home to recover. Three weeks after my operation I sat four of the seven of my GCSE’s. A few weeks after sitting my GCSE’s I was admitted back into hospital and was diagnosed with having high cranial pressure, a shunt was fitted to help bring the pressure down. Since being in hospital, it has made me realise how fortunate I am to have had the staff of ward E40 at The Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham to help me to recover from the surgeries I’ve had this year. With this in mind, I am trying to raise some money for the ward. I plan to cut off my hair in the hope that I can raise some money to buy some toys for the children on the ward to play with. I also plan to donate the hair that gets cut off to the little princess trust who are a charity that make real hair wigs for children and young adults who have lost their own hair as a result of cancer treatment. I would really appreciate it if you could help me raise as much money as we can.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.