Just George campaign funds new vital research after £100,000 raised in memory of George Radcliffe, of Isleham, near Newmarket

Fund-raising in memory of a four-year-old boy has helped a leading childhood cancer charity fund two vital new research projects.

George Radcliffe, of Isleham, near Newmarket and Mildenhall, died in October last year having been diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in May 2022, when he was three.

To raise funds for research into the rare cancer, his parents, Lisa and David, set up the specially-named fund Just George, at the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG), and since then have raised almost £120,000.

The couple have been supported in their efforts by friends, family, colleagues and former colleagues, as well as many in their local community and even strangers who have been inspired by George and his story.

Play dates, endurance challenges, golf tournaments, fun days and darts competitions are just some of the many events organised in memory of George, with the money raised by Lisa, David and their supporters, and by other CCLG special named funds helping to support two new research projects.

Lisa said she had been absolutely blown away at being able to have done so.

“I didn’t think we’d raise this amount of money so quickly and never thought we’d be able fund research this soon,” she said.

David added: “The two research projects are so important. It is time to think about childhood cancer research differently, to seek kinder and more effective treatments for children.

“We can’t keep giving children adult treatments that make them so incredibly poorly and have long-term side effects that impact their lives beyond cancer survival. That’s why, for us, this fund-raising is so important.”

Led by Professor Janet Shipley, at the Institute of Cancer Research, and Dr Darrell Green, at the University of East Anglia, the new projects aim to improve the treatment and care of young rhabdomyosarcoma patients.

“This project has only been made possible because of the unimaginable heartbreak that some families have gone through and their tireless efforts for scientific research. I just cannot say thank you enough,” said Dr Green.

Lisa, who with David, will be hosting the Just George Golden Ball on September 27 at Chippenham Hall, spoke of the indelible mark their son had left on all those he met.

She said: “One of the nurses at the hospice said you can live 100 years and leave little or no mark and that while George had only lived his four, people talk about having learned lessons from him.

“That relationship he had with people is what is striving people to fund-raise.”

Sharon Williams, who is a friend of Lisa’s, has also organised a Just George Christmas party at the Riverside House Hotel in Mildenhall, where tickets for the event sold out in six days.

She is welcoming more event sponsors and raffle prizes if any people or businesses would like to get involved.