Please sponsor me to have a drastic hair cut (about 10 inches!), to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity. Personal circumstances have meant I had to abandon my other fundraising plans, so please give generously, as this will be the only thing I will be doing (for a while anyway). I'm not running a marathon, swimming the channel or anything impressive...but I LOVE having long hair, and it's a big challenge for me to follow through with this - I've been promising to do it for nearly a year now! I've never had as long hair as this - not even as a child - so please help make it count. The funds will be going to TBTC, and the hair itself will be sent to make a wig for  child who has lost their hair through cancer.

In September 2017, my 3 year old nephew was diagnosed with brain cancer, and within five days he underwent an 8.5hr operation to remove a large tumour from his brain. Alex survived surgery, and went on to have 6 weeks of daily radiotherapy and chemotherapy. He had to be put under general anaesthetic every single day. After those horrendous first weeks, he is now going on to have a further gruelling 9 months of chemotherapy.

This is the heartbreaking reality for children with brain cancer, but what makes Alex different is that he's the first child in the UK to be going through something called the PNET5 trial. This is a trial that is funded by The Brain Tumour Charity, and is potentially going to have huge benefits for any future children with brain tumours. The problem with cancer treatment, particularly for very young children, is that even if the patient beats cancer, they are often left with life-changing long-term side effects, such as organ failure, infertility and brain damage. The PNET5 trial is aiming to lesson the chance of these side effects, without compromising the child's rate of survival. If the trial is successful, it will be a massive step forward in cancer treatment for children.

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer in children and adults under 40, yet only 2% of cancer research in the UK is spent on brain tumours. I found this statistic shocking, as it is only with research, and trials like PNET5, that there will ever be any dramatic improvements in the management and treatment of tumours. At least 102,000 people in the UK are currently living with a brain tumour, which makes it a very personal cause for us ALL to support - there is no way of telling whether it will be your loved one next who has the earth-shattering diagnosis of brain cancer. It was a thunderbolt out of the blue with Alex; he'd been sick a couple of times, had a few occasions when he was tired which meant he went a bit wobbly...but nothing substantial. One day he woke up feeling very unbalanced and 'not quite right'...and five days later he was having brain surgery and embarking on this absolutely horrendous journey to (we hope) recovery. By supporting The Brain Tumour Charity and the PNET5 trial, you are helping to secure a future - a good future - for all children with brain cancer.

My own personal motivation behind this fundraising is Alex and his amazingly strong, brave and determined family. But you don't need to know them, or even me, to feel moved by this cause. Together we can make a huge difference in the future treatment of brain cancer; and in doing so we will be making a huge difference in the future of thousands of children's lives.

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