On 6 November 2019, my niece Anand was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) at the tender age of 5. Her parents and older siblings were absolutely devastated. 

Since that time, Anand has spent the majority of her time in hospital. The care she received has been amazing and she made lots of new friends, mostly nurses and doctors as she continues to spend a lot of time in isolation due to risk of infections. Despite being so poorly and undergoing aggressive chemo, she is often cheerful and full of smiles. 

During this process we have met numerous families and have come into contact with children, some very young, who were terminally ill. We feel fortunate and grateful that Anand has a type of cancer that has a good survival rate. That is not always the case for other families and so raising money for support and research is very important. 

CLIC Sargent came to see my brother and his wife within a few days of her diagnosis with lots of information and offering their support. My sister in law is now on unpaid leave from work and my brother is unable to work full time as they spend so much time in hospital. Fortunately they have the financial resources and support within the family to survive this crisis financially, however there are families that CLIC support who are unable to manage, emotionally and financially. The work they do is exceptionally amazing. 

The second charity Children with Cancer undertake valuable research into children's cancer. For every pound donated to Cancer Research, only 3 pence is invested into cancer for children. 

All of your support, is greatly appreciated.