Two tiny tots whose father has been diagnosed with a brain tumour are taking part in a walking challenge in the hope their little steps will add up to a big improvement in survival rates for patients with the disease.

The cute couple, Cheryl-Louise, who is four, and little brother Oscar-Myles, who is just three, are hoping to toddle 5K – that’s three miles – to raise money for the pioneering charity Brain Tumour Research. They have an ambitious target of getting £10 each to help scientists find a cure for brain tumours like those that their dad Tom is living with.

Cheryl-Louise and Oscar-Myles are among the first to sign up for the charity’s Big Little Walk campaign which is inviting people – big and small – to take a step in the right direction to help improve outcomes for patients with brain tumours. The charity funds a network of Centres of Excellence, including its flagship at the University of Portsmouth, where scientists are focused on developing new treatments and, ultimately, finding a cure.

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.

The siblings’ father Tom was just 18 and hoping to join the British Army when he was diagnosed with four low-grade ganglioglioma brain tumours. The tumours were inoperable but Tom had chemotherapy which helped to reverse some eyesight damage. Now 31 and working as a machine operator at Huhtimaki Group, Tom lives with the anxiety that the tumours, although stable, could become active in the future.

The family, who live in Gosport, are planning to take on their Big Little Walk Challenge around the May half term holiday and are hoping for good weather as they aim to toddle and waddle along the seafront at Lee-on-Solent.

Joining them will be Tim Green, Community Fundraising Manager for Brain Tumour Research, and his partner Taysha who will be doing their Big Little Walk while pushing with their 12-week-old daughter Nola in her pram.

Mum Hannah said: “It’s really important to us as a family to do all we can to support this research as it’s vital that money is invested in finding a cure and not just for us but for every family going through this not just now but in the future too.”

Tim said: “I was so touched to see that Cheryl-Louise and Oscar-Myles are taking part in this challenge so my family will be joining them too and will be delighted to help them raise vital funds to support important research into a disease which affects so many people and their families each year. Stories like Tom’s remind us all that we cannot allow this desperate situation to continue.”

Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, they 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.

To make a donation to the children’s Big Little Walk or to take part go to https://biglittlewalkofhope.everydayhero.com/uk/family-walk-for-research

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.