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My name is Ailsa Reid, and I have lived in Boldon all my life. I am both a coach and player at Boldon Cricket Club in East Boldon. Please find attached my personal story,

Cancer and Cricket

When my son was invited to join the All Stars Cricket programme at the cricket club in East Boldon, I never imagined it would change my life.

In the summer of 2022, my six-year-old son started playing cricket through the All Stars programme. From the very first session, he fell in love with the game. After All Stars, he moved on to indoor softball cricket over the winter and, by spring 2023, was encouraged to start playing hardball cricket at the tender age of seven. His coach happened to be a school friend of mine, whose son was the same age.

By the summer of 2023, cricket had become a huge part of our lives. We spent every weekend at the club. Cricket balls seemed to appear in every corner of the house and permanently lived in my handbag. My son practised his bowling action everywhere he went, even shadow bowling down supermarket aisles. He was completely smitten.

As the club grew in popularity with local families, I took a job behind the bar to help out. What had started as a place for my son to play cricket quickly became much more than that. The club became an extension of our family—a place where friendships grew, weekends were spent, and we truly felt we belonged.

In July 2023, after a morning run, I noticed that my breast had changed shape while I was getting dressed. I contacted my GP and, within two weeks, I was being seen by a specialist breast cancer nurse. Just one week later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Our whole world stopped.

The weeks that followed were a whirlwind of hospital appointments, biopsies, scans and consultations. Suddenly, life revolved around test results, waiting rooms and difficult conversations. The carefree weekends at the cricket club were overshadowed by fear and uncertainty as we tried to come to terms with what lay ahead.

This is where my cricket club family stepped up.

As I faced surgery and the treatment ahead, the support from the club was incredible. Cricket summer camps were organised, helping to keep my son busy and doing what he loved. Advice was freely given, from where to get a wig to practical tips for navigating treatment.I worked behind the bar right up until a few days before my mastectomy. On my final shift before surgery, we celebrated together until the early hours. At the time, I didn't realise just how much those friendships would carry me through the months ahead.

While I was recovering, care packages arrived at my door. Meals were prepared for my family, friends stopped by to visit, and messages of support never seemed to stop. We were completely overwhelmed by the kindness shown to us.

That support continued throughout my chemotherapy. Every milestone was shared and celebrated. When I finished treatment, I was able to ring the bell—not in a hospital corridor, but in the bar that I loved working in, surrounded by the people who had stood beside me throughout my journey.

The encouragement didn't stop there. Through radiotherapy, the cricket club community continued to lift me, culminating in a huge fundraising retro party to celebrate the end of my active treatment. It was a night filled with laughter, friendship and gratitude—a reminder that even during the darkest times, I was never facing cancer alone.

It wasn't just the adults who supported us; my son's cricket team rallied around him too.

Although they were very young, they knew that something had happened to me. They noticed that I had lost my hair, and one day at the club, a brave little teammate asked me outright what had happened. The club suddenly fell silent as everyone waited to hear my response.

I told him that I had been poorly and that the medicine the doctors gave me had made my hair fall out. Then I explained it in a way I hoped they would understand.

"Just like the trees lose their leaves in the autumn and grow them back in the spring, my hair will come back too. By summer, it should start growing again."

The children seemed satisfied with that answer and quickly returned to what mattered most—cricket. But for me, it was a reminder of how naturally children approach difficult situations. There was no awkwardness, no judgement, just curiosity, kindness and acceptance.

Throughout my treatment, those young cricketers looked out for my son in their own way. They made sure he was included, kept him smiling, and gave him something constant to focus on while our family navigated one of the most challenging periods of our lives.

Days after finishing my radiotherapy treatment, I enrolled on a cricket coaching course with Durham Cricket. After everything the game and the club had given my family and me, I felt I needed to give something back. I wanted to help the newest generation of players fall in love with the sport, just as my son had.

Cricket had supported us through some of the darkest days of our lives. It had given my son a place where he could be a child, surrounded by friends and teammates. It had given me purpose, friendship and strength when I needed it most. Becoming a coach felt like the perfect way to say thank you to the community that had carried us through.

When my son first attended an All Stars session in the summer of 2022, I thought I was taking him along to learn a new sport. I could never have imagined that a cricket club would become our second family, helping us navigate a breast cancer diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Looking back, cricket gave us far more than a sport. It gave my son a team, it gave me a community, and it gave our family strength when we needed it most.

The story doesn't end there. This year, we started a women's team, and I now have the opportunity to play the sport that has given me so much. From standing on the sidelines watching my son, to coaching young players and taking to the field myself, cricket has become woven into the fabric of our lives.

On Sunday 5 July, Boldon Cricket Club will host its first Women's Softball Cricket Tournament. Alongside a day of cricket, there will be a range of activities raising funds for Breast Cancer Now. Without the research, support and vital services funded by charities like this, many women, including me, would not have the same hope and opportunities that we have today.

For many, it will simply be a day of cricket. For me, it represents something much more. It is a celebration of friendship, resilience and community. It is a chance to raise awareness, support others facing a breast cancer diagnosis, and give back through a sport and a club that helped carry my family through the toughest chapter of our lives.

Cancer may have changed our lives, but so did cricket.

The event will bring together club members, local supporters, families, and the wider community to raise both funds and awareness for the vital work your charity carries out in breast cancer research and support services.