Meet Isaac Allsopp. The cheeky chap on the right!

He is ten years old and lives in Sutton-In-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire with his parents, Mike and Jill, and his two older brothers, Jake and Noah.

We were all in complete shock when just a few weeks after the picture shown above was taken, in June of this year, Isaac and his family were told that he had a large cancerous tumour growing in his chest due to a rare form of bone cancer.

Since then, Isaac has undergone 4 months of intensive chemotherapy at Nottingham Queens Medical Centre.

During this time, we as friends of the Allsopp family, have been so impressed with how well they have coped. They have kept their sense of humour, they haven’t put on anyone, they’ve remained dignified and protected Isaac’s privacy. They are a strong family unit anyway, but have become even more so while they have been going through this dreadful experience.

The immediate family have travelled long distances to care for Noah and Jake at home during the many hospital stays and have worked hard to keep up a routine for them. But in between the eight rounds of chemo he has had so far, Isaac comes home, and the family enjoy being back together in the house once again.

So because of this impressive self sufficiency, there hasn’t been much that the rest of us can do to help….UNTIL NOW!

Isaac’s chemo has been successful enough to shrink the tumour - and the next step is a big operation to remove the tumour. But just recently, Isaac and his parents received the shocking news from their consultants that after the operation, he will need to go to America for around three months for Proton Beam Therapy, which is the best curative treatment in his case. This treatment is currently unavailable in the UK until August 2018 which of course would be far too late for Isaac. Thankfully, they have qualified for NHS funding for the actual treatment itself and this will also cover the cost of flights and accommodation for Mike, Jill and Isaac. But it will not cover any of Noah and Jakes costs or all other living expenses for the family as a whole.

We currently don't have an exact date for this, Isaac has an operation to get through first, but we are guessing it will be sometime in November.

We have decided to set up this page to try to raise enough funds so that the family will not be separated during this worrying time. Isaac always flourishes when he’s around his brothers. He thrives off the banter and teasing and it helps him feel ‘normal’ again when he’s with them. Not only will keeping them together be the best thing emotionally for the whole family, we believe it will also assist in Isaac’s recovery.

We need to raise funds to cover the cost of return flights for Jake and Noah, their living expenses, accomodation, their school tutoring and also the general day to day expenses of the entire family while they are there (these expenses are not covered by the NHS).

At this point let me just say, Mike and Jill are not comfortable with the idea of fundraising in this way. They can’t bear the thought of anyone feeling pressured into donating or giving more than they can afford. But we as friends feel it’s time for us to step up and do this on their behalf, as they would never ask for it themselves. So after taking plenty of time first to think this through, Mike and Jill have given their blessing. They realise that their income alone cannot cover the costs of running their UK home, as well as the expenses of living abroad for a time.

But, with this in mind, please only give what you can - and if this is nothing at all then you can still help greatly by sharing the link to the campaign on social media or telling people about the link so word spreads.

We’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to all who support this campaign in any way, great or small.

If you are an organisation who would like to arrange fundraising for this campaign, please feel free to get in touch.

We will post regular updates via this page to keep you all informed on the progress, whilst still protecting Isaac's privacy.

So let’s get going and make sure this lovely family aren’t separated at such a daunting and scary time……..