Last Thursday, 15 February, St Faith’s School Choir (from Cambridge) performed a very special concert at St Peter’s Church, Heswall to raise funds for the children’s brain tumour charity Tom’s Trust, who provide psychological support for children with brain tumours and their families at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The concert raised a brilliant £442.81.
Tom’s Trust launched its Alder Hey Children’s Hospital service in 2023. There are approximately 43 children and young people diagnosed with brain and spinal tumours at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital each year. Before the Tom’s Trust service opened at Alder Hey the average wait for psychological support for a family facing a child’s brain tumour diagnosis was six months, it is now two weeks. We are proudly supporting 158 children in the North-West, and approx. 536 nationally, plus an additional 1608 family members.
The St Faith’s concert is extra special for Tom’s Trust as St Faith’s school, was the school that Tom, who Tom’s Trust was named after, attended. Tom’s Trust was founded by Tom’s parents Debs Mitchell and Andrew Whiteley after he died from a brain tumour, aged nine in 2010. Little support was given to their family as they navigated his terminal diagnosis, and they grew determined that no other family should go through what they had experienced alone.
Debs Mitchell, Co-Founder of Tom’s Trust and Tom’s mum, said: “It’s such a special connection to have pupils from Tom’s school raising money in Liverpool where we have recently launched a service. We’re so proud to be supporting children with brain tumours and their families in the North-West and a visit from Tom’s old school just reinforces the personal origins of the charity.”