SCORES of celebrities have got behind our Use Your Brain campaign to help find a cure for brain cancer.
Actress Tamzin Outhwaite, television presenters Kate Thornton and Jamie Theakston, singers Matt Willis and Tom Fletcher and Sugrbabes star Heidi Range are just some of those helping raise money.
Our drive was launched after the death of Sun fitness expert Nicki Waterman who was given vital extra years by a pioneering new approach called immunotherapy.
Nicki was convinced the same treatment could save countless lives if it is made available on the NHS – and we are raising funds to make this happen.
Now we are asking YOU our kind hearted Sun on Sunday readers for YOUR support and donations.
All you need to do is carry out a random act of kindness, post a thumbs-up selfie on your social media account and spread the word.
You can ALSO donate cash quickly and easily by text message or by going to the Just Giving website.
Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of people under 40 and we need to find a cure.
Alex Waterman, Nicki’s daughter
Nicki’s daughter Alex Waterman and her friend Hayley Costa, 39, whose mum Beverly died from a brain tumour, helped launch our campaign last week.
Yesterday Alex, 33, said: “March is Brain Tumour Awareness Month and that is why we have launched the campaign now. Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of people under 40 and we need to find a cure.”
Immunotherapy uses drugs that harness the body’s own ability to kill tumours and is the great hope in cancer medicine.
It allowed Nicki, who died in August 2016 aged 53, precious extra time to see her son Harry get married.
Former Labour MP Baroness Dame Tessa Jowell, who died aged 70 in May 2018, also underwent the treatment in Germany after running out of medical options in London.
How to help
- Take part in a random act of kindness.
- Then post a thumbs-up selfie on social media with the hashtag #useyourbrain.
- Finally, donate by texting “NICKI” plus the amount you want to give to 70085. For example, to donate £5 text “NICKI 5”. Alternatively, donate on Just Giving.
Nicki’s doctor Paul Mulholland, from The National Hospital for Neurology And Neurosurgery, has already started trialling the treatment on NHS patients but more money is needed to keep this going.
Half of the £250,000 required has already been raised by the National Brain Appeal charity, but we need your help to raise the rest.
Each year almost 11,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour. Just 19 per cent of adults survive for five years after diagnosis.
Alex said: “Mummy would love the Use Your Brain campaign – it is about spreading happiness while raising money and awareness.
“We are asking people to do something kind – by giving a kind word to somebody who seems a bit down, stopping to chat to an elderly neighbour or just by listening to a friend in need – and then take a thumbs up selfie with the tag #useyourbrain.
“And then the vital bit – donate to the appeal.”
How to help
- Take part in a random act of kindness.
- Then post a thumbs-up selfie on social media with the hashtag #useyourbrain.
- Finally, donate by texting “NICKI” plus the amount you want to give to 70085. For example, to donate £5 text “NICKI 5”. Alternatively, donate on Just Giving.
