Legacy for little Liam
The parents of a little boy who died from a rare brain tumour have set up a legacy to honour him and give something back to the community that supported them through his illness.
Stuart Andrew and Amanda Ferguson, of Beacon Heights, Newark, say they want to thank everyone who helped the family when they needed it most.
Liam Andrew, who would have celebrated his seventh birthday today, died in November, just six months after being diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).
An appeal to raise money for any treatment that might have helped Liam caught the public imagination, and thousands of pounds were given by people from the Newark area and beyond for the #love4littleliam campaign.
But the rapid progression of the illness and the limited treatment options meant that the family was unable to spend the money raised as intended.
So they have chosen today to launch Little Liam’s Legacy to use some of the funds raised to benefit others in their own community.
Stuart and Amanda are in the process of setting up a registered charity with trustees to manage the money that was raised.
They said: “Thousands of people gave their money, time and effort during the #loveforlittleliam campaign.
“As a result of their amazing efforts we were able to raise a substantial amount of money for possible pioneering treatments for Liam.
“Unfortunately, due to the rapid progression of Liam’s cancer and the limited treatment options available we were unable to use the money raised as intended. However, this does not mean the time and effort spent was wasted.
“The support we received gave us hope in the darkest of days and allowed Liam to have amazing experiences, which are now priceless memories.
“Now that we have had time to process what has happened, we really wanted to do something positive in Liam’s name, not only to keep the memory of him alive through a lasting legacy, but also as a way of saying thank you to the community that pulled together and helped us when we needed it most.
“The funds raised will be used to support children in need in our community and to fund research and awareness of DIPG.”
They said they were sure that Liam would have wanted his family to help other people in the way other people had helped him
“He was a very caring and loving little boy and if he was still here with us he would want to help those in need just as the people of Newark tried so hard to help him in his time of need, even though the odds were stacked against him.”
Stuart and Amanda, who have a daughter, Evie, 4, decided some of the money raised should go to DIPG research, so in the future a cure might be found. It will also raise awareness of the illness, and provide support for families of children who are diagnosed.
Stuart said: “We don’t want other families to feel isolated, like we did at first.
The remainder of the money will be available to help children in and around Newark — and not just those with illnesses, but with other needs.
“We want to focus on children — organisations, groups, individuals,” Amanda said.
“We would hope to give money little and often, because the more people we can help, the better,” Stuart said.
The couple intend to keep topping up the funds with regular fund-raising, so the charity can continue for many years.
Amanda said: “This is new to us, so we are finding our feet with it. It will evolve, with input from the public, as we get a better idea of where support is needed.”
“We need to do this for other people because when the chips were down they were there for us.”
Find out more at https://littleliamslegacy.org.uk
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