Appeal anniversary (From Croydon Guardian)

Appeal anniversary

10:09am Friday 14th November 2003

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A year after nine-year-old James Haddad lost his brave battle against a rare brain tumour, some of the £50,000 Guardian readers helped raise has gone to help find a cure.

On Saturday, October 25, after James’ school friends released white balloons at a St Mary’s Junior School memorial service to mark his first anniversary, his parents Robert and Sue presented a cancer charity with a cheque for £5,000.

In 1997 Angela Dickson and her husband Neil set up the Samantha Dickson Research Trust (SDRT) after their daughter died of a rare brain tumour shortly before her 17th birthday.

In less than seven years the trust, which aims to find a cure for brain tumours in children and adults, has become the largest single funder of laboratory based brain tumour research in the UK.

When the James Haddad Appeal was set up last March, 10 per cent of the money raised was pledged to the SDRT, and the Dicksons turned up at the Sydenham Road school on Saturday to collect the cheque.

Sue Haddad said: “We are now looking at a number of options for how best to use the fund to help other children suffering similar conditions as James.”

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