George Hatt from Chillerton was completely taken aback that when he set up a Fundraising page he raised £8,500 in two days.
He set up a Facebook page stating that he would shave off his beard in exchange for donations to the charity CLIC Sargent which supports children and young people with cancer.
He chose CLIC Sargent as his cousin, Russell Hatt, and partner Joanna Tosdevin found out last month that their five month old baby, Oscar, had a Neuroblastoma Tumor on his spine into his abdomen.
Hatt: Huge thank you to everyone for their very generous donations
George said,
“Being on the Island, whilst Russell, Joanna and Oscar were in Southampton for treatment, I know that I can speak on behalf of all the family involved that we all felt so helpless through this shocking experience.
“Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love my beloved beard that I have had for nine or ten years at different lengths, but I am willing to do this to raise as much as I can for charity. I said that if I raised more than £1,500, I would shave my hair off too, so looks like that’s now happening!
“I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone for their very generous donations to support young cancer patients. Russ is more like a brother than a cousin to me, so everyone’s support really means a lot.”
Tosdevin: It was such a horrible shock finding
Oscar’s mum, Joanna Tosdevin said,
“On New Year’s Day, Russell and I noticed that Oscar’s legs weren’t moving. An out of hours GP appointment at St Mary’s resulted in us being rushed to Southampton in the early hours of the 2nd January for scans. It was such a horrible shock finding out that Oscar was diagnosed with a Neuroblastoma Tumor.
“Emergency surgery took place and Oscar is due to have his third round of chemotherapy next week and his last round is due in March. Oscar is doing really well and fortunately not having too many side effects from the chemotherapy.
Overwhelmed by the funds raised
Joanna went on to say,
“We chose to support CLIC Sargent as they made everything a lot simpler. We had a lovely CLIC Sargent Social Worker called Nicky who checks in regularly with us, providing emotional support and helping with financial grants from the charity and other charities.
“We also got to stay in the charity’s ‘Home from Home’ called Jean’s House, which was a great help. When we talked with George about him setting up a fundraising page and we thought his idea of raising £1,500 might be pushing it a bit, we were overwhelmed when the page raised £8,500 in two days.”
Blunt: Incredibly grateful for the support
Liz Blunt, Fundraising Engagement Manager at CLIC Sargent, said:
“I am so pleased to hear that Oscar’s treatment is going well and it has been such a pleasure to chat with Joanna and George. It’s really touching that the local community have really pulled together to support an obviously much loved, popular family.
“Coping with a cancer diagnosis with your child is hard enough and so difficult to have the added complications that Covid-19 brings too. We are incredibly grateful to the family for their support and wish baby, Oscar and not forgetting his three-year-old brother, Theo, our very best wishes.”
Show your support
If you want to show your support for the charity and George’s challenge, pop over to his fundraising page.
It’s also possible to drop off donations, towards the fundraising at Chivertons Newsagents, Stag Lane Motors, Crocker Street Garage (Newport) and Brownrigg’s Farm Shop Godshill if you live close to one of those places before the end of March.
News shared by Liz on behalf of CLIC Sargent. Ed
