Charity of the Month: Childhood Cancer Awareness - Jesse's Anchor

September was a difficult month for us to choose just one charity to highlight so instead we will be featuring a different charity each week.

Why was it so difficult? Well, simply because this month features two words that should never be associated together, Childhood Cancer Awareness.

Going Gold for September is well known to those who have been or know of someone affected by childhood cancer. Whether rare or not, the effects can be life-changing and sadly, in some cases, sadly, life-ending.

The aim for this month is for us to raise awareness by not only sharing some of the scary statistics that surround this horrible disease but also the stories behind some of our local charities that help not only with grants and information but also listen because they know firsthand what parents are going through.

Our second charity we are shining a spotlight on this month is Jesse's Anchor.

Jesse’s Anchor is a children’s charity that has been set up by Michelle and Anneka in memory of their little boy Jesse. They aim to offer support to families with a child under the age of four, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Jesse had only appeared unwell for two weeks prior to his diagnosis. His symptoms seemed to come on fast. Perhaps there were earlier signs, but at the time his parents just thought that Jesse was a normal baby, sometimes throwing up his milk, but on 10 February 2017 they were given the devastating news that their beautiful baby boy had a brain tumour and within hours he was rushed to Addenbrookes Hospital. He underwent a 7-hour surgery whilst his mums were told how to deal with a child with cancer. Following the surgery Michelle and Anneka were given the worst news which was that Jesse’s tumour was an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumour (ATRT) one of the rarest forms of childhood brain tumours and had spread to vital parts of his brain and brain stem. Michelle and Anneka were taught how to care for Jesse and how to protect his airway, sadly they were told that further treatment would not be fair due to the aggressiveness of the tumour. Jesse spent his 1st birthday on a hospital ward, he was able to make it to the wedding of Michelle and Anneka (where he was the absolute star of the show) but just 128 days following his diagnosis, little Jesse passed away at home on the 18th June 2017.

The charity aims to support families with a child under the age of 4 with cancer by:

• offering grants to help with daily costs, or even sadly a funeral,
• assisting with memory-making when a child is sadly deemed palliative,
• donating to independent research projects,
• and providing direct parental support to families, as they understand what it’s like to be in that position and make those tough decisions.

Find out more about Jesse's Anchor and its mission here.