‘Time for me to pay back my debt of gratitude’
THE father of a 12-year-old boy who is in remission from cancer, is appealing for runners to join him in the London Marathon to raise vital funds for the charity that gave his son the holiday of a lifetime.
George Bould, a pupil at Moorside High School, completed the treatment for Wilms’ tumour, a kidney cancer found in children, in June 2015.
Over three years he had two fivehour operations, 60 chemotherapy sessions, 28 fractions of radiotherapy and had his kidney removed.
To bring some happiness back into his son’s life his father Jason applied for a place on Caudwell Children’s annual Destination Dreams holiday to Disney World, in Florida.
The family were selected for the holiday, in 2015, and on returning to the UK they pledged to raise money to support the holiday scheme in the future.
“It’s time for me to pay back my debt of gratitude to Caudwell Children for treating George and the family to a magical experience that left us with happy memories that will last a lifetime,” said Jason, 48.
“Without the charity’s support we would never have had the opportunity to have that precious time together and it really benefited George at a difficult time in his life.”
Jason, of Wetley Rocks, decided to fundraise for Caudwell Children by taking one of their charity places for the London Marathon, which takes place in April next year.
Work and family commitments meant that until this year he’s been unable to run in the event, but now he’s raring to go and he’s encouraging others to join him in arguably the greatest marathon in the world.
“Destination Dreams is amazing,” Jason said. “The charity takes a team of paediatric doctors and nurses to look after the children’s needs 24/7.
“Not only that they also provide over 40 volunteers to help the families around the theme parks.
“As you can imagine, to provide this level of care and provision doesn’t come cheap and it costs, on average, £12,000 per family.
“That’s why I’m calling on as many people as possible to join me in next year’s London Marathon.
“We need to ensure that the trip goes ahead again in 2019, and with the support of the running community we can do just that.”
Caudwell Children is a national charity that provides practical and emotional support to disabled children and their families, and they created Destination Dreams in 2007 to give 25 children with life limiting conditions the opportunity to experience a oncein-a-lifetime holiday.
The ballot results for next year’s run were announced earlier this month, and with more than 400,000 runners having entered, there were a lot of disappointed applicants when the lucky 20,000 were announced.
“If you weren’t successful in the ballot you can still snap up one of Caudwell Children’s charity places for just £100 with a fundraising target of £2,500,” said Jason.
“I know that the sense of achievement will be unbelievable if I complete the 26.2 miles, but it will be even greater knowing that I’ve raised money to support this wonderful holiday.”
The charity allocates a dedicated fundraiser to each runner participating on behalf of the charity as well as a fundraising pack, a running vest with their name printed on it, and an invitation to enjoy both a pre-race pasta party with their Caudwell Children teammates, and a celebratory post-race party, which includes a meal and a sports massage.
To find out more, call 01782 600433755 or register for a Caudwell Children charity place at bit. ly/2njwfxn.
And you can support Jason through www.justgiving.com/jason-bould.