Gold Morning Gatley

For caring parents, Tracey and Phil Payton, whose daughter, Emma, was first diagnosed with cancer aged eight, will again be teaming up with Pam Rowley of Best Friends Dog Grooming and Training, and Kidscan Children’s Cancer Research to place the ribbons around Gatley during September to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The ambition for ‘Gatley Goes Gold for Childhood Cancer’ is to place 200 ribbons across the Stockport village – and to encourage people to buy them from Best Friends, in Church Road, Gatley, to support the cause too.

All proceeds will be split between Kidscan and the End of Treatment Bells charity – set-up by Tracey and Phil – which sees children and adults ring a bell in hospital when they have finished their cancer treatment.

Tracey wants to use the funds raised from this year’s ribbons quest to buy more bells, having already donated 180 up and down the country since 2014, as well as helping to fund much needed research into children’s cancer.

Tracey’s drive comes from the determination shown by 13-year-old Emma, who went to America for Proton Beam Therapy to battle a soft tissue cancer called Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. The Gatley youngster was able to ring her End of Treatment Bell at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in April 2014.

Tracey, aged 49, said: “There is a need for more research into the 200+ types of cancer which hundreds of children are diagnosed with every single day. Our children deserve more than the current funding they receive and Kidscan are dedicated to helping find pioneering and less invasive treatments which will benefit children everywhere.

“The End of Treatment Bell is a goal for children and families who are undergoing the harsh chemotherapy and radiotherapy protocols which are currently offered. We need to do more research so that every child gets to ring their bell.”
Also taking part in the gold ribbons campaign will be Kidscan ambassador, Charlotte Jennings, who is 16-years-old and bravely fought cancer since the age of 11.

Courageous Charlotte continues to stay positive, despite enduring devastating life-lasting side-effects from a very rare and aggressive form of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, and has adopted a determined attitude to fundraising and raising awareness of childhood cancer.

The Gatley teenager has already raised over £25,000 for Kidscan and Ward 84 – where she was treated at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Charlotte said: “No child should have to fight cancer let alone be left with disabilities like me, or worse, dying from it.

“Supporting ‘Gatley Goes Gold for Childhood Cancer’ will help raise awareness and funds for the vital research Kidscan does and will mean that more children are able to ring their End of Treatment Bells.”

To mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Tracey, Pam and Charlotte will be holding a Memory Walk on September 7th at 7pm.
The walk will start in the car park at Gatley train station, before making its way to the Walter Stansby Memorial Park, and then on to Gatley Primary School for refreshments.

People are invited to pay a suggested donation of £2 to join in and raise money for both the End of Treatment Bells charity and Kidscan. Each person who takes part will receive a length of gold ribbon, which they can write on to dedicate to a loved one.
Participants are then welcome to tie their ribbon to the railings at the Memorial garden on their way to the school for refreshments.