Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Latest update: sadly Leon lost his fight with cancer (GIST) on 17th March 2018 only 17 months after his devastating diagnosis. 

He wanted all future fundraising in his name to be for St Catherine 's Hospice Preston so please click on Team Callon above and find Leon 's page if you would like to donate......and thank you on behalf of our brave and inspirational son.

I am taking early retirement at Christmas after teaching for almost 30 years.  Many of you may know me as Alison Callon.  I have worked in schools in Rishton, Blackburn, Helmshore, Coupe Green and Clitheroe as well as across many schools in East Lancashire when I was a Maths Consultant.

I am fundraising for the cancer charity ‘GIST Support UK’.  Many of you will never have heard of a ‘GIST’ (a gastrointestinal stromal tumour) and neither had I until one of my sons, Leon Callon, age just 35, was diagnosed with a ‘sizeable’ GIST in October 2016. Doctors said by the time they diagnosed it the tumour had already spread.

As you will see in some of the photos posted on his mate Andy Jones’ page, Leon is a keen runner and a ‘full of life’ character. If you want to look at Andy's page 'Running for Leon' the link is:

https://www.justgiving/fundraising/GISTSUPPORTUK-LEONCALLON

Or search Leon Callon

The reason I'm supporting this charity is to raise awareness of this very rare (especially in Leon's age group) type of tumour. 
So how can you help?.....
When a Headteacher retires, there’s usually a collection to buy them a gift – could I ask that instead of chocolates, flowers or special mementoes, you choose to donate to this cause through JustGiving instead? That would really make my day.

........and also if you're in contact with anyone who knows me from teaching them or their children, please be sure to pass this on to them too.

There are lots of fundraising activities going on to try to reach Leon’s goal of raising £10,000 for this little known cause: ‘TeamCallon’ set up by Leon’s mate Andy Jones, who are all running the Stafford Half Marathon in March (........my hubby Ian and I are running it too with Leon's girlfriend Klara and family members Maxine, Craig, Dani and Becca and Leon's mate Nick ), Ben (Leon’s youngest brother), his wife Nikki and one of her brothers Bo will be running the Tobacco Road marathon or half marathon in North Carolina (Ben Callon's page is linked too if you want to check it out) on the same day and also one of his mad mates Daz doing a skydive with Klara.

We're set to be a huge bunch of people all raising money for ONE cause - please, please help if you can!!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.