A MOTHER whose daughter died from a rare cancer earlier this year held an event to raise money for a charity launched in her memory.
Joanne Naylor is aiming to raise £5,000 so that she can register Aalish’s ‘RideTheTheme’ Dream as a charity, so she can collect donations.
The aim of the charity is to offer days out to theme parks for children who are going through cancer treatment, and to give them a day off from hospitals and appointments and something fun to look forward to.
In December 2015 Joanne’s daughter, Aalish, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer which affects the nerve tissue. Aalish sadly died in June, aged eight.
The first fundraising event to raise money for the charity was held earlier on this month. It was a race night with raffle tickets, catering and lots of donations. A total of £1,900 was raised which will go towards the £5,000 needed to become a registered charity.
Once Aalish’s ‘RideTheTheme’ Dream has become a registered charity, social workers from hospitals will talk to children and families who are affected by cancer. For any children who want to and are able to spend a day at a theme park, someone will get in touch with Joanne and she will arrange the day from start to finish covering all of the costs.
Joanne said: “When we were at the hospital we noticed that there were very few charities who look after people with neuroblastoma.
“There are so many theme parks across the UK for people of all ages so we can help as many people as possible. We are hoping that our next event will be just as successful as our first and we are looking at doing something around March time next year.”
