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Reece was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) on 4 December 2011, his 3 birthday.

We were all shocked to hear this and saddened to see the immediate impact this dreadful cancer has had on a little boy we all knew as healthy, cheeky & fun loving, and also the struggles Alex, Rachel, Mia and Keira have had to go through helping Reece fight this.

We are pleased to hear the first month of treatment has gone to plan and hope the remaining 3 years follow the same track.  There is a 80% chance that Reece will go on to lead a normal life following his treatment & know he will part of that statistic.

Wanting to help more than being at the end of the phone a few of us got together with Tils & decided to register for the Reading Half Marathon to help in some way & raise awareness of children with Leukaemia.  What we didn’t know is that so many people felt the same & the number running now stands at over 30 including close friends, colleagues, old school friends, Reece’s granddad(!) & people Reece has never met.  This is truly magnificent and has really touched Alex & Rachel.

Some people have expressed an interest in helping Reece directly.  Unfortunately it is not possible to set up a Just Giving style page to do this.  If people would also like make a donation direct they can do so using these bank details (Sort Code – 111811, Acc No – 23915994 - accnt name if needed Alex Tilsley).  We are aware Reece would like to meet Mickey Mouse and hope any direct donations will help “Make Reece’s Wish” to do this when he is healthy again.  We know Alex and Rachel feel uncomfortable about taking direct donations, but this is our way of ensuring Reece can have the time of his life at the end of this.  . The offline total shows the donation to the family and the online will be Clic Sargent donations.

Clic Sargent is a charity that has helped the family from day 1, including providing a social worker & accommodation for Alex opposite the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford during Reece’s initial stay.  Their main aim is to help as many children and young people as possible survive cancer & make the most of their lives.  Money raised from this run will help support those helping Reece & his family, along with those families that don’t have such a great set of family and friends as Alex and Rachel.

To see the Facebook event page to keep up to date with fundraising, training & organisation for the big day see here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/342097009134694/

Thanks again for your continued support, we would love to see as many of you as we can on the day of the race to support both the runners and the family. It promises to be one hell of a day for many reasons and your all welcome to join us for drinks at the finish line!