Bradley’s foundation has
HE was a cheeky chappy who melted the heart of the nation when he was faced with a battle for survival. Now his legacy is living on through the Bradley Lowery Foundation, helping other children struggling with their health. Little Bradley’s charity was set up after the youngster died in July last year but was officially launched at a glittering gala ball held at Gateshead’s Hilton hotel in February – attended by his friend, footballer Jermain Defoe. Money raised on the night was split between the foundation and creating a holiday home for youngsters undergoing treatment. Now a big push is being geared towards raising around £600,000 to establish their d r e a m holiday retreat – hopefully in S c a r b o r o u g h where Bradley and his family built memories when they spent their last holiday there. Mum Gemma, 35, of Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, said: “We have been meeting the architects to discuss the plans and design the facilities of how we want them to look like. “If we find around £600,000 it will cover the costs for the holiday home. “We are very keen to be in Scarborough and hope to be meeting with the council there within the next few weeks to discuss our proposals. “Scarborough holds lots of lovely memories for us as we spent our last holiday there with Bradley and it was just a few weeks before he passed away. “The people of Scarborough really took us in and made us feel welcome and it also has lots of great things for families to do.” Gemma is staying tightlipped as to how the holiday home will look, how many bedrooms it will have and what facilities it will have on offer. She is wanting to unveil them at a later date.
Sunderland fan Bradley died after a brave battle with neuroblastoma, which is a rare form of cancer.
His story touched people around the globe, who raised money to pay for medical treatment which the cute six-year-old could not access on the NHS.
Bradley’s foundation now supports children who are poorly or disabled and provides their families with a financial and emotional lifeline.
Set up by Gemma, she knows all too well what the support of the charity means to others.
It has already helped a string of grateful youngsters throughout the country and Gemma and her amazing team are determined to build on their success as they raise hundreds of thousands of pounds more to create their dream holiday home hopefully in 2019.
Mum-of-two Gemma added: “The foundation is going really well, we are pleased with how well it is going over such a short space of time.
“We are ongoing with 17 children at the moment, we are very busy but very satisfying.
“When the children and their families come to us we help them emotionally and with funding. Bradley is with me all the time.”
Gemma admits the charity helps her get through the days after losing her precious son.
But she takes comfort in helping other youngsters and says Bradley is with her every step of the way as the charity supports each child.
She believed her son’s love for superheroes was a sign his charity supported a Merseyside girl who is fighting an aggressive brain tumour.
And Gemma, 35, pledged her support to the Spider-Ede appeal, which is to fund three-year-old Edie Molyneux’s treatment for her rare Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) brain tumour.
Edie, from the Wirral, flew to Mexico getting state-of-the-art treatment. But Gemma says she felt a need to help her due to all the support the Lowery family was shown by people from Liverpool.
Everton Football Club donated to Bradley’s appeal, and the Sunderland fan appeared at Goodison Park as a mascot.
After Bradley’s death, a charity match was held at Everton’s stadium.
Gemma says Edie’s love of Spiderman was a sign that superhero-fan Bradley would want to help her.
The charity also helped Alfie Smith, who has cerebral palsy and needed £50,000 for an operation to enable him to walk.
Within 14 weeks, his fundraising target was achieved. Now, after an operation combined with a physio regime Alfie can stand without assistance, which he had not been able to do for 10 years.
It also helped Harry Mogan, who has a range of conditions affecting his mobility, and needed a specialised