Alice’s Arc, the Sevenoaks Children’s Cancer Charity dedicated to funding research into finding a cure

We are delighted that the children’s cancer charity, Alice’s Arc, has provided us with an update of what they have been up to lately.

By way of reminder, Alice’s Arc was set up in 2015 to honour Alice Wakeling’s journey with rhabdomyosarcoma. She fought the disease for 4.5 years before passing away in October 2019. When Alice relapsed in July 2019 there were no known treatments available to her, she had exhausted all the options available. We do not want families in the future to find themselves in this devastating position. The charity aims to find a cure and less harsh treatment options for rhabdomyosaroma. We do this by funding scientist/researach roles at the Institute of Cancer Research and by working with Great Ormond Street Hospital on devising novel potential treatment options. To date we have raised £550,000.

The week before lockdown was imposed we were lucky to manage to hold two important fundraising events. Alice’s school, Walthamstow Hall, arranged an ‘Active for Alice’ fun run in Knole park on the morning of Saturday 14th March 2020. It was pouring with rain but over 100 families participated in runs of either 800m, 1500m, 2.5km or 5km according to age and fitness levels. Run registrations, t-shirt sales and a raffle raised a tremendous £1,183. We are hoping that this will become a regular fundraising event for Alice’s Arc.

The second event that we held was a ‘Go gold casino’ fundraising event on the evening of Saturday 14th March 2020 at St Julian’s Club, Sevenoaks. Everyone dressed with a dash of gold and the evening included a casino, glitter bar, gold photo booth, band, gold-inspired drinks and shots, canapes and a sit down meal. We raised a grand total of £4,400. Casino winners won superb prizes, many supplied by local businesses such as Matthew Cross, The Chapel, Temper Temper, Ilgin’s Sourdough, Prime Asthetics Spa and Branded Restaurant. Main prize winners were awarded a week’s accommodation in Portugal and a weekend away in Dorset. We were also so thankful to Up, Up & Away events and Claire Brockwell’s glitter bar for providing their services for free. The chocolate shop also provided boxes of gold chocolate truffles. Again, we hope to repeat this event next year.

Following, the publication of an article about Alice’s Arc, written by Debbie King, in the Sevenoaks Chronicle, our local MP, Laura Trott, invited Sara Wakeling to attend a women’s reception at Number 10 Downing Street. This took place on Thursday 5th March in celebration of International Women’s Day. It was a great opportunity to bring the issue of childhood cancer to number 10 and to talk about Alice’s Arc and how Laura may support us achieve our goals.  Boris Johnson also gave a speech on creating greater opportunities for women in the UK. Alice’s Arc was very grateful for this opportunity.

Every penny donated to Alice’s Arc goes direct to the charity’s work. If you are able to give or pledge, you know it will make a difference to a child with cancer. To read more about this fantastic charity please visit https://www.alicesarc.org or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/alicesarccurerhabdomyosarcoma/