North East and Cumbria

Teenage Cancer Trust is raising money to build a new state-of-the-art unit at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle to compliment the new unit at the Great North Childrens' Hospital.

About the appeal

The new replacement unit will treat young people aged 13 -19 diagnosed with cancer across the North East of England and Cumbria.The ten bed unit, which opened in May 2010, will treat young people with cancer from towns across the North East including Newcastle, Carlisle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

The new unit will replace the original 6-bed Teenage Cancer Trust ward at the RVI which was opened in October 1997.The new state of the art unit includes: a recreation room with a kitchen / diner, study, family room, parents room with kitchen, complementary therapy room and a penthouse chill out zone.

Teenage Cancer Trust is now raising funds to build a second unit at the Freeman hospital for 18-24 year olds.

Latest news

Find out what's been going on in the North East...

£400 raised – Thank you King James!

We recently received a cheque for £400 thanks to the initiative of Year 10 student, Shaunnie Tonge and donations from students at King James I Academy in Bishop Auckland.

Shaunnie initially approached the Academy Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator, Dawn Hindmarch, with an idea to raise awareness of Testicular Cancer by way of a presentation in assembly. Dawn said: “Shaunnie has a very caring attitude and is very committed to this cause so I was only too pleased to help. Together we researched and presented a session for students, and organised a non-uniform fundraising day. It was a great success.”

Peter Collins, Regional Fundraising Manager, accepted the cheque on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust. He said: “Raising awareness among young people is a key part of our work as an organisation. It is good to know that there are caring students like Shaunnie who really want to make a difference.”

Asda Price Guarantee Road Show

Asda in Benton held its first ever ‘Asda Price Guarantee Road Show’ which generated £4,475 for Teenage Cancer Trust and was handed over to our representative Peter Collins by store manager Barry Thompson. This ‘guess the savings’ game show was designed to let customers see how they can save money by taking advantage of the store’s guarantee to be 10% cheaper than its competitors – or it will refund the difference.

Savings across three days were added up, multiplied and as a result Teenage Cancer Trust benefited from the windfall. The event featured groups of five challengers at a time who were shown a series of random products where they were asked to guess the savings made on those products at Asda.

Asda Benton community colleague, Beverley Williams, said: “We were absolutely delighted at the success of the event and even more so by the fact that we succeeded in raising such a colossal sum of money for Teenage Cancer Trust.” Peter Collins added: “Asda Benton is a great supporter of ours anyway, but I’m truly stunned at this latest money maker for us. It will help us battle teenage cancer here locally”.

Geordie Ball a huge success

Darren Phillips, owner of Darren Phillips Travel in South Shields has raised £3,030 for the Teenage Cancer Trust by hosting a ‘Geordie Ball’.

Darren, along with help from his manager, Jean Farthing and sales consultant Lynn Williamson, invited more than 400 travel staff to the black tie event. The ball was held at the Marriott Hotel in Gosforth, Newcastle, and included a dinner and dance before a raffle.

Darren said: “Every year I try to pick a different charity. We always set £3,000 as the bench mark, so I am delighted that once again we have been able to achieve this.”
The photograph shows David Haley (right) from the 'Toon Council' receiving the cheque on behalf of Teenage Cancer Trust from Darren Phillips.

Joe McElderry competes in the Great North Run for Teenage Cancer Trustl

July 2010: Joe said "I am truly honored to be an ambassador and North-East patron for Teenage Cancer Trust. On 19 September I will be running the Great North Run which finishes in my home town of South Shields. I'm looking forward to taking part in the world's biggest half marathon and raising money to develop services and facilities for young people diagnosed with cancer in North East England. Teenage Cancer Trust has achieved so much in Newcastle and across the UK, and I hope I can help raise awareness and support for such a great cause."
Watch the video on YouTube...

Megan's Miles

62 people took part in a 19 mile sponsored walk in honour of the corageous Megan Thompson's 19th Birthday. Megan is battling a brain tumour on the new Teenage Cancer Trust unit in Newcastle. over £3,000 has been raised so far, see Megan's story for more information.

Masonic Lodge sponsored walk raises £2000

June 2010: The Belted Will Masonic Lodge from Brampton held a sponsored walk and raised the magnificent sum of £2000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust unit in the Great North Children’s Hospital Newcastle.

Skydiving

Kirsty Holt, 50, a housewife from Cumbria is perhaps not your typical skydiver but for her this jump was a way to not only face her fears but also to raise money in memory of her daughter.

Kirsty’s daughter Corrie-Anne passed away in August 2009 after suffering from cancer on and off for 11 years. During this time Corrie-Anne was treated at a Teenage Cancer Trust unit in Newcastle.

Kirsty managed to rope in the support of a friend of Corrie-Anne’s to do the jump with her. Local media, retailers and Corrie-Anne’s former school, all helped with the fundraising and raised a massive £10,000.

Kirsty said: “When I landed it was such a burst of adrenaline but I was a bit emotional as well because I thought about what I was doing it for, Corrie-Anne and all those teenagers. I don’t know them but I do know what they’re going through and I want to help them recover or even just stay in remission for that little bit longer.”

Kirsty presented staff with a cheque for over £11,500, and the fundraising doesn’t stop there. Gavin Salmon is still to do his skydive on 14 August 2010 so there is still time to send sponsorship money. To make a donation, you can send payments marked Corrie Anne Holt Charity Jump, to the Cumberland Building Society, 12 The Square, Dalston, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA5 7PH.