An Isleham family’s fundraising in memory of their four-year-old son who died from cancer has helped fund two new research projects into the disease.
After George Radcliffe’s diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma in May 2022, his parents, Lisa and David, were keen to make a difference for other families facing childhood cancer.
Lisa and David Radcliffe set up the Just George Special Named Fund with CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association in September 2023 to raise money for rhabdomyosarcoma research just a month before George died.
Lisa said: “The current toxic treatments couldn’t stop George’s cancer. We don’t want the options to run out for other children, when frontline treatment fails or they relapse. Funding this research into rhabdomyosarcoma is a huge achievement for us.
“Just George is our way of ensuring good comes from our tragedy and that we can make a difference in George’s memory.”
Now, the fund has contributed to two new CCLG research-funding collaborations – one with Children with Cancer UK, and another with VIVO biobank.
Funding research to help other children with rhabdomyosarcoma is something Lisa said that her “curious” son would have been proud to have supported.
“George knew setting up the fund would help the scientists and doctors to learn more about making good cells stronger to fight the ‘naughty’ cells,” said Lisa. “He understood they needed money to be more curious.”
In little more than two years since setting up the fund, Just George has raised over £330,000 for CCLG and has now funded three research projects thanks to an army of supporters and glitzy events like the Just George Golden Ball.
Lisa said: “We couldn’t achieve any of this without our supporters. Attending our events, donating and sharing Just George with others has helped us reach this incredible milestone so quickly. We’re already planning for more fundraising and events, so we’d love to hear from any businesses who would like to help us build George’s amazing legacy.
“We hope our funding helps the researchers to continue being curious and working hard to answer the vital questions that could lead to kinder and more effective treatments.”
Funded as part of a £700,000 collaboration between CCLG and Children with Cancer UK, Dr Matthew Blunt’s project at the University of Southampton aims to develop a new type of immunotherapy, called CAR-NK cell therapy. It will bolster the body’s ability to fight rhabdomyosarcoma by helping natural killer (NK) immune cells find and kill rhabdomyosarcoma cells. As clinical trials utilising NK cells for other types of cancer have been very successful, Dr Blunt hopes his work will develop a treatment that is “extremely safe compared to other types of treatment”.
The second project is part of a collaboration with VIVO biobank, which is funded by Cancer Research UK and Blood Cancer UK. Combining CCLG funding with VIVO biobank’s extensive collection of cancer samples, the research is led by Dr Supriti Ghosh, whose work uses a new method to explore tiny pieces of cancer DNA in the patients’ blood samples.
Dr Ghosh explained: “This uses blood samples to gather in-depth information about rhabdomyosarcoma tumours, reducing the need for repeated scans and invasive tissue biopsies. It has the potential to pick up changes in the cancer sooner than scans, offering clearer guidance during treatment.”
Vicki Brunt, CCLG’s Head of Fundraising, said: “Our Special Named Fund families play a crucial role in driving forward research through their fundraising and we’re hugely grateful for their support.
“CCLG’s partnership with Children with Cancer UK allows us to amplify their impact and accelerate progress towards kinder treatments for children and young people with cancer.”
Gavin Maggs, Chief Executive of Children with Cancer UK, said: “Working together with CCLG allows us to achieve more for children and families affected by cancer. Between us, we can fund research that pushes boundaries and brings us closer to safer, more effective treatments, maximising impact and accelerating progress.
“Co-funding like this has to be the way forward, for our donors, for the academics, and most importantly, for the children.”
To support Just George visit https://specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/just-george/ or please contact specialnamedfunds@cclg.org.uk if you would like more information about supporting as a business.
