The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust

Most of you will know my beautiful cousin Georgie died on April 25th 2011. He is my inspiration and the reason I am so passionate about working so hard for various cancer charities. I miss him more everyday and my work allows me to feel close to him again.

Georgie suffered from Li Fraumeni Syndrome, which is a rare type of TP53 disorder. We didn't know Georgie was suffering from LFS until he was diagnosed with his third cancer, the one that killed him at just seventeen years old.

There aren't any organisations in the UK specifically devoted to TP53 disorders but our family has decided to change that by creating a trust in Georgie's memory. Georgie's parents and siblings feel more needs to be done to help people with LFS and other TP53 disorders. They would like to concentrate on the following points:

* Increase understanding of the condition among sufferers and their families

* Support individuals and families with the condition

* Increase awareness of the condition among doctors

* Increase the rate of TP53 testing

* Promote research into the condition

* Look into treatments

* Foster the feeling of community and end the isolation that currently exists amongst sufferers and their families

The trusts website has now gone live and will be providing a central forum for sufferers, their loved ones, doctors and researchers to make contact with each other.

If you suffer from LFS or any other TP53 disorder, place get in contact and see how the trust can help you, we really do want to hear from you and see how we can help.

If you don't have LFS or any other TP52 disorder but are inspired by Georgie and would like to help us then please do let me know :)

The site is www.tp53.co.uk

Thank you for supporting our family :)

xxxx

Miss London 2012 - Fundraising Superstars!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!


I've mentioned my lovely friend Fay Bacon (soon to be Hill!!) in my blog before and I need to mention her again!!!


Fay is the director of UK Model Folios and works really bloody hard! She is now also the sponsor and organiser of Miss London.


Miss London isn't as superfical as some people automatically think. The current Miss London, Rissikat Bade, isn't just a pretty face: she's also busy completing a law degree. She is also learning french and doing a course in Journalism.


The Miss London finalists will be working hard to raise money for several charities over the next few weeks: Help for Heroes, The Thai Childrens Trust, Cancer Research UK and Children with Cancer UK.


I'm going to post a link to their JustGiving page and ask that you all donate anything you can afford and help Fay make Miss London 2012 the biggest and best one yet!


Good luck Fay and all the Miss London contestants!!!


http://www.justgiving.com/teams/MissLondon2012
xxx

The Bugg Sisters - An Update

Happy Friday Everyone!


Some of you may have read a previous blog post about the amazing Bugg Sisters: Rochelle, Hannah and Olivia. They lost their father in 2000 to a brain tumour and are now nursing their mum through the same thing. I urged my readers to get behind the three beautiful Bugg's and show support for them at this horrific time.


The sisters got to enjoy christmas and new year with their beloved mummy and are so grateful for that. Yesterday, however, yet another huge bombshell arrived for them: Mrs Bugg's tumour has grown and the girls have to decide whether or not she should have chemo.


I've developed a bond with eldest sister Rochelle and her bravery and courage is astounding. She has taken on the role of head of the family and has nursed her mum whilst looking out for her younger sisters. I'm also the eldest in my family and I'm not at all sure I would be able to cope as brilliantly as Rochelle does in her situation. I take my hat of to her, she is one amazing girl.


Once again I will ask you all to get behind the Bugg sisters, take a look at the website (www.abuggslife.com) and show them some support. If you've ever been in the same situation as the girls or their mum, please let them know, you may be able to help them!


Mrs Bugg probably has around six weeks to live. I know from experience with Georgie that sometimes doctors get it wrong; Georgie lived just over two hundred days longer then his doctors told us he would. I'm hoping with all my heart that Mrs Bugg does the same and that these amazing girls get some more time with their beloved mummy.


I just want them to know that my support for them is unwavering and I will be at the end of the phone whenever they need me, I'm hoping to get the chance to visit them at some point too. I know the girls have so many people behind them and I know that their parents must be so incredibly proud of their beautiful, brave children. Keep going girls, you're doing a brilliant job of caring for your mum.


Thinking of you girls,


Pen xx

The Iron Coppers

My dad is a former policeman and my step dad works for the police so when I found out that a group of police officers were raising money for Cancer Research UK, I automatically knew I had to support them!

The Iron Coppers have formed a team which will be competing in a number of crazy events during 2012. They would like to do one event every month of this year. So far their plans include a 10K run titled “Brutal10” an eight mile run through Aldershot Army Camp in the middle of the night and several Triathlons.

As you can see, these incredible people will not be resting on their laurels, they will be pushing themselves to the limits, and this is in between shifts of protecting our streets! I think they really deserve to raise lots of money and have all of our support!

For more information on this incredible team of people, please visit their website www.ironcoppers.com or follow them on Twitter @Ironcoppers.

They are currently looking for sponsorship so if you are a company looking to support a worthwhile cause then please do get in touch with them!

xxx

Radiotherapy Campaign Update

So 2011 is now over and so is Cancer Research UK’s Year of Radiotherapy. One of my very first blog posts contained information about our huge radiotherapy campaign and I thought you all deserved an update!

Research showed that only around four in ten cancer survivors had received radiotherapy as part of their treatment plan. Fewer then one in ten people thought of radiotherapy as a modern, cutting edge treatment and over forty per cent of people were still terrified of the treatment.  Even doctors were unaware of just how far radiotherapy has progressed. Our “Voice for Radio” campaign aimed to change this and we managed to collect over 36,000 signatures which were then taken to Downing Street. The government were asked to put a stop to this and have an action plan to educate people on radiotherapy and get more patients receiving this life saving treatment.

The brilliant Cancer Research UK bloggers have compiled all the information about our campaign and what will happen in the future and I really think you should take a look, especially if you signed our petition.

It’s so exciting to see all our hard work coming good, I’m really proud of myself and everyone who worked so hard. Thank you if you signed the petition, you really will be saving lives in the near future!

Take a look at the CRUK report here: http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2011/07/29/100-years-radiotherapy/

xxx

Sarcoma UK – The bone and soft tissue cancer charity

As many readers of this blog will know, Georgie had cancer three times. It was his third cancer that eventually took him from us. At the age of fifteen he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma of the Mandible (jaw). I had never heard of Sarcoma before Georgie was diagnosed and now it has taken one of my favourite people.

Sarcoma’s are rare cancers that develop in the supporting tissues of the body, for example muscle, bone and nerves. They are some of the most common childhood cancers. About 55% of sarcoma’s affect the limbs and about 15% affect the head and neck, the remainder will be found in the abdominal area inside your body.

There are three main categories of Sarcoma: Soft tissue cancer, Primary bone cancer and Gastro-Intestinal Stromal tumours. There are also about seventy different sub types of sarcoma which fall into these three main categories. Osteosarcoma falls under the primary bone cancer category.

Sarcoma UK is the main UK charity dealing specifically with all types of sarcomas. In March 2011, The Sarcoma Trust and Sarcoma UK officially joined together to become known collectively as Sarcoma UK.

Sarcoma UK has one main aim: to get the best possible level of treatment and care for patients suffering from sarcoma. They achieve this through three different means:

·         They fund scientific and medical research into discovering what causes sarcomas and how to treat them

·         They deliver various types of support and information services which cover all aspects of sarcoma

·         They raise awareness of sarcoma with members of the public, healthcare professionals and policy makers.

The fact that sarcoma affects a lot of children is horrifying, especially when it could mean having limbs amputated. Georgie had to have his jaw replaced; such a horrific and painful experience for anyone, let alone a sixteen year old boy. However not many people are aware of this type of cancer, I wasn’t until it affected someone close to me.

Sarcoma UK has a small team of hard working staff who work alongside doctors, nurses, researchers and other cancer charities. It has a board of trustees, many of whom have had personal experience with sarcoma. It is a fantastic charity working hard to bring awareness to such a terrible form of cancer. It is so important to bring awareness to such a worthy cause and to get this charity as much publicity as possible. It provides much needed support and information to sarcoma patients and their families as well as much needed research into ways of preventing and curing the disease.

Sarcoma UK relies on voluntary donations as its sole means of funding their hugely important research projects into sarcoma. If you know of a way of fundraising for a charity then I really do urge you to bear Sarcoma UK in mind. Every little really does help in the battle against sarcoma cancers.

If you are interested in fundraising for Sarcoma UK or have any questions about sarcoma cancers, please do get in touch with the charity.

Visit their website www.sarcoma.org.uk

Like their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/uk.sarcoma

Follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/Sarcoma_UK

xxx

 

My Cancer Research UK Advert

Cancer Research UK asked me to take part in their "12 Days of Christmas" Campaign. I spoke about being a Campaigns Ambassador and our very successful Radiotherapy Campaign. I'm no TV star but I think it came out OK! Enjoy :) xxx