Pat Hayes from Glenluce, Dumfries and Galloway is a grandmother to Thomas, aged 10, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, aged just 4.
Every year, over 4,000 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK. This works out at over 11 children a day diagnosed, a quarter of whom tragically will not survive.
Pat Told DGWGO “This year I am working with Kirsty McGuigan,who is a Stranraer parent whose son has cancer, and Clic Sargent, to make 2017 even more successful for Golden Glow. We now have over 180 venues supporting us this year, with more signing up every day.
I would like to ask local businesses and other organizations to light up gold or have window displays throughout the month of September. On September 1st, Henry’s Bay House in Stranraer will be hosting a launch event for the 2017 Glow Gold, with entertainment from a Piper and a local dance troupe, and there will be gold facepainting and a prize raffle.
We will be publishing photos and information on our social media pages Facebook HERE & TWITTER – @Glowgoldkids. We are also encouraging people to post their own photos of places that are glowing gold on our page, using hashtags #glowgold , #ccam , #glowgoldseptember , #teamglowgold ,and #childhoodcancerawareness . “
Pat Continued “Currently, cancer is the number one cause of non-accidental death of children in the UK. Treatments have changed very little in the last 30 years, with only three new drugs licensed for use specifically in children during this time compared to almost a hundred for adults. We are fighting for equality of funding and awareness for children with cancer.
We have the backing and support of many well-known charities nationally. For the full list of affiliated charities please see our campaign page HERE
Our aim is to ensure the colour gold becomes synonymous with childhood cancer and our awareness month September. We hope that with increased awareness of childhood cancer comes greater awareness of the early signs and symptoms, earlier diagnosis, increased research and kinder more targeted therapies for children.
We would also be most grateful if you would consider promoting awareness of the early symptoms and signs of childhood cancer during September through dissemination of the Grace Kelly Ladybird Trust signs and symptom awareness cards and the HeadSmart awareness cards. These two charities are backing the campaign and will supply cards to disseminate to the public on request.
Our aim is to give parents the knowledge and confidence to recognise the early warning signs and seek help earlier. Only then will we know whether earlier diagnosis affects prognosis. We want to turn the world Gold, so join #teamglowgold, and ‘get glowing’. “Kind regards,
Pat Hayes, Kirsty McGuigan
