For the tenth year running, children and staff at a local school are putting on hats of all colours, shapes and sizes to raise funds for a charity working to find a cure for brain tumours.

Beachborough School near Brackley will be joining many others across the country to get involved in Wear A Hat Day, which, this year, takes place on Thursday 29^th March.

All 390 children and staff at the school are being encouraged to get creative and to design and make their own colourful hats to wear in the school’s spring hat parade, which has become a Beachborough tradition on the last day of the spring term. Previous parades have seen everything from Easter bonnets to wacky headwear proudly displayed. The school’s fundraising will also include a cake sale and the opportunity to buy one of the charity’s unique pin badges which many of the children enjoy collecting each year.

The whole school community has been inspired to fundraise for Brain Tumour Research by teacher, Sally Gross. Eleven years ago, her niece Maisie was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of two. Maisie has since made a full recovery, but Sally is all too aware of the way her family was changed forever by the trauma of Maisie’s diagnosis and illness, and is passionate about the need to invest in vital research to understand more about the causes of brain tumours. The school has raised over £15,000 for the charity since 2009. 

Sally, who has worked at Beachborough for 14 years, said: “I am extremely proud of our fundraising at Beachborough. The support from the staff, children and parents has been amazing. Our family was lucky as Maisie’s tumour could be operated on and she is now still full of smiles, living a wonderful life with her family in Scotland, but if more children are to survive brain tumours, like Maisie, a lot of fundraising is necessary to support more research as so much is still unknown about this dreadful disease. I am extremely grateful to everyone at the school for giving so generously over the last ten years, and look forward to raising more money this year and in the future.     

“Raising money for Brain Tumour Research by taking part in Wear A Hat Day each year is a tradition now at Beachborough. We all look forward to creating and wearing fabulous head gear on our last day of the spring term. Our fundraising events are memorable and the children are very proud of what they can achieve – they understand the importance of helping others, whilst also enjoying themselves!”

Wear A Hat Day has raised over a million pounds since it was launched by the charity Brain Tumour Research nine years ago and is the culmination of Brain Tumour Awareness Month in March. The big day will see schools, workplaces, families and individuals across the UK fundraising and taking part in fun events to raise awareness of brain tumours and help fund life-saving research.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. Funds raised through Wear A Hat Day 2018 will develop the charity’s network of world-class brain tumour research centres in the UK.

Paula Rastrick Community Fundraising Manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone, at any age. We are extremely grateful to Sally and everyone at Beachborough School for getting involved and hope people will support them and be inspired to hold their own events. It’s as easy as wearing a hat and making a donation!”

To get involved, or donate, please visit: www.wearahatday.org or text HAT to 70660 to donate £5*

#HATTASTIC

* Texts cost £5 plus network charge. Brain Tumour Research receives 100% of your donation. Obtain the bill payer’s permission. Call 01908 867200 with any queries.

For further information, please contact:
Susan Castle-Smith at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867206 or 07887 241639 or Susan@braintumourresearch.org

Notes to Editors

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK focused on funding sustainable research to find a cure for brain tumours. We have established a game-changing network of world-class Research Centres of Excellence in the UK. Embracing passionate member charities nationwide, over £6 million was raised towards research and support during 2017.

We are campaigning to see the national spend on research into brain tumours increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast cancer and leukaemia. The unprecedented success of our 2015 petition led to the 2016 Westminster Hall debate and Brain Tumour Research taking a leading role in the Government’s Task and Finish Working Group convened to tackle the historic underfunding for research with the report being published in 2018.

Key statistics on brain tumours:

• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• They kill more children than leukaemia
• They kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
• They kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease
• In the UK 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers
• Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age
• Incidences of, and deaths from, brain tumours are increasing.

Please quote Brain Tumour Research as the source when using this information. Additional facts and statistics are available from our website including our latest Report on National Research Funding. We can also provide case-studies and research expertise for media.