The festive month of December saw Brain Tumour Research decorating headlines across regional and national press, in the run up to Christmas.
Our Wear A Christmas Hat Day took place on Friday 16th December, and the stories to come out of that were incredibly moving.
The Parton family showed immense fortitude after Jack, 15, was diagnosed with leukaemia just weeks after his twin brother Ben died of a brain tumour. Jack appeared in The Daily Mail after taking part in Wear A Christmas Hat Day.
Jack’s fundraiser for his brother in The Daily Mail
Jack got his whole school involved as well to fundraise for Brain Tumour Research. He also appeared across all three BBC platforms; on BBC online, BBC 1 West Midlands TV breakfast bulletin, and on BBC West Midlands radio.
Jack’s fundraiser for his brother on BBC online
One of our own charity supporter care administrators also hit the regional headlines this month. Emma Jolly knitted a beautiful purple bobble hat, which she raffled off for Wear A Christmas Hat Day. She featured in publications including the MK Citizen and raised more than £770.
Emma Jolly by her stall at the White Hart Christmas Market in Sherington
Another uplifting Christmas story came when mum-of-two Kylie Weatherby received a 'Christmas cancer miracle' and appeared in nationals including The Daily Mirror.
She was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM), which was removed and treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She was enjoying a year of stable scans when a new growth emerged, and surgeons feared was a regrowth of the GBM. After having it surgically removed it turned out to be rare stage 2 pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA), which is not cancerous.
Kylie Weatherby’s Christmas miracle in The Mirror
Jill Kenton (main picture at top) didn’t know if she would survive Christmas 2021 after her diagnosis. She is now working with Brain Tumour Research after a year of stable scans and check-ups show her tumour is not growing.
She initially noticed symptoms including puffiness and dryness in her left eye but put it down to a Botox treatment she had a few months prior. Her story was in The Sun and The Metro.
We’ve been featured in much of the recent EastEnders coverage in relation to the Lola Pearce storyline. In particular, the news Patsy Kensit is joining the cast as Lola's mother saw us mentioned in 158 articles including nationals such as The Evening Standard.
Patsy Kensit to join EastEnders as Lola Pearce’s mother
We’re already looking forward to sharing our January highlights with you.
We have launched our 10,000 Steps a Day in February challenge, and you can get involved! Sign up here, set up a fundraising page and when you get your first donation we’ll send you a wealth of goodies, including a t-shirt. If you raise £137 or more, you’ll also qualify for a medal. That figure represents 5% of the cost of a day’s research at a Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.
We are grateful to all the supporters who work with Brain Tumour Research to help raise awareness of this devastating disease. If you would like to share your story, please contact our dedicated PR team to see how we may be able to help: media@braintumourresearch.org
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