Mum’s hope in memory of Bradley
Football club backs fundraising bid in memory of youngster
The mum of tragic youngster Bradley Lowery is hoping to create a holiday home in Scarborough for sick children and their families to spend time together.
Bradley Lowery’s mum says she is hoping to create a holiday home in Scarborough for sick children and their families to spend time together. It comes after Sunderland Football Club launched a special campaign, For Bradley, with the aim of raising enough money to create a holiday home, Bradley’s Place, which will provide families with sick children a place to spend special time together.
The Black Cats will raise the money through the sale of a special edition home shirt – named Bradley’s Shirt’ – which was worn by the players on Saturday during their game against Millwall.
The six-year-old Sunderland boy, who sadly lost his battle with neuroblastoma earlier this year, was one of the Black Cats’ biggest fans.
Mum Gemma said: “Sunderland was Bradley’s life. All he ever wanted to do was be on that pitch.
“He will be looking down and saying ‘I want one of those shirts’.
“In his last week of being on this earth, the club brought him the new shirt before it was released. He was so ill he could hardly lift his head up, but he was determined to put the shirt on and he wore it for his final few days.”
Gemma said she was overwhelmed when the club approached her with the idea of raising money for a holiday home.
She said: “The last holiday we had with Bradley, a few weeks before he passed away, was in Scarborough. We had a fantastic time and made so many wonderful memories.
“Having all these memories is what keeps me going on a day-to-day basis and I have said a lot that I want to help other sick children and their families make special memories.
“I was overwhelmed by the club’s gesture. When they approached me with the idea, I just thought ‘wow, that is amazing’.
“Bradley had a whale of a time doing all the things he did. When I look at my pho- tographs and videos I think how lucky I am to have these amazing memories that I will carry for the rest of my life.
“I want to be able to give as many other sick children as possible some special experiences.
“It helps me get up in the morning that I am helping other families to make the best of their time to- gether.”
Gemma said she would love the holiday home to be in Scarbor- ough because her family had such an amazing time there, but nothing has been decided yet.
She said it will be decided at a later date if they are going to build a holiday home or refurbish somewhere and, although they do not have a figure yet, the project will cost a lot of money.
‘We had a fantastic time and made so many wonderful memories’
During Bradley’s visit to Scarborough the family were given the experience of a lifetime, as many businesses came together to offer days out and activies for the brave young man. Bradley was also the guest of honour during the town’s Armed Forces Day celebration. Bradley, who fought a long, brave battle with neuroblastoma before passng i away in July, touched the hearts of football fans across the world after appearing as a mascot on a number of occasions for his beloved Sunderland. The new special edition shirt features his trademark thumbs up’ as well as a heart. In tribute to Bradthe ley, Black Cats were led out by 13-year-old Thomas Bypus, who became great friends with Bradley when they were both receiving treatment at the RVI, in Newcastle. Bradley’s Shirt is available to buy from the Sunderland AFC club shop, or via safcstore.com.