A community has raised more than £100,000 for childhood cancer research in memory of a four-year-old boy.
George Radcliffe passed away in October 2023, having been diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in May 2022, when he was three.
To raise funds for research into rhabdomyosarcoma, his parents, Lisa and David, set up the Special Named Fund Just George at Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG), and incredibly, have since raised the huge sum in just 10 months.
The couple have been supported in their efforts by friends, family, colleagues and former colleagues, as well as many in their local community and even strangers who have simply been inspired by George and his story. Play date events, endurance challenges and darts competitions are just some of the many amazing things people have organised in memory of George, to help raise money for vital research.
Lisa and David first began fundraising for CCLG while George was being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where they held a special ‘Wear it Gold’ day.
Lisa said:
We had a gold party in the hospital room with the rest of the nurses on the ward, and David held a gold event at his work.
George loved joining in that year, when he'd got a new golden hat. The play team made golden crowns with him, and we decorated his room all golden. It was lovely.
A year later, Lisa and David had been told that George’s relapse treatment wasn’t working, and he began receiving care at the East Anglian’s Children’s Hospice.
Determined to help other children and families facing a rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosis in the future, they set up Just George, and organised a special fundraising event at Cambridge’s Milton Country Park, near to George’s hospice, allowing him to attend and take part.
Lisa said:
We set up George’s fund when George was very poorly and getting lots of care from the hospice.
We still wanted to mark that Wear it Gold day and so did our community, who'd walked along this journey with us and heard our story.
Everyone was keen to support again, so we decided to go ahead and make it more accessible to George. We really wanted him to be part of that because he’d loved joining in the year before.
We hired a beautiful outdoor space and held a golden outdoor event. Everybody pulled together to make golden cakes and lovely food. We lit a fire and had marshmallows, children ran around collecting sticks and leaves. It was perfectly George, out in the woods.
He stayed for about an hour and he got to see lots of friends and family at the event and understood that the special Wear it Gold day was to raise money to help other children in the future that may have ‘naughty’ cells like his. When we got home, he was desperate to count the coins with his daddy.
How George inspires positivity and adventure
Lisa spoke of George’s kindness, and empathy and maturity beyond his years, as well as the indelible mark he left on all those he met, which continues to inspire and motivate many of them to have a positive impact on the world.
She said:
He was so mature with his ability to show empathy. He wanted to know that people were okay. He was such a superstar.
One of the nurses at the hospice said you can live 100 years and leave little or no mark, and that while George had only lived his four, people talk about having learnt lessons from him.
That relationship he had with people is what is striving people to fundraise and to really think about other children in the future that might be diagnosed, and ensuring that they have more treatment options.
Recently, our friend Oli did the 10 Peaks Challenge in the Lake District on his own, and on the back of his t-shirt, it said ‘Be more George and seek adventure’.
And that's been his drive for the fundraising - that this isn't just about raising money and raising awareness, but actually, we can all learn a lesson from George about making the most of life and seeking adventure.
We’ve been “blown away” by new research funded
The funds Lisa, David and their supporters have raised has now been able to help support two new research projects and Lisa spoke of being “absolutely blown away” at being able to have done so.
“I didn't think we'd raise this amount of money so quickly, and never thought we'd be able fund research this soon,” she said.
David added: “The two research projects are so important. It is time to think about childhood cancer research differently, to seek kinder and more effective treatments for children.
“We can't keep giving children adult treatments that make them so incredibly poorly and have long-term side effects that impact their lives beyond cancer survival.
“That's why, for us, this fundraising is so important.”
Joining CCLG’s Patient and Public Involvement research group
In recent months, Lisa has been working with CCLG’s Patient and Public Involvement group, which works with those with experience of childhood cancer to ensure CCLG’s research focus makes a real difference to patients and families. She said that, as well as giving her a voice, it has also helped her be able to articulate to Just George’s supporters that CCLG funds only the brightest and best researchers.
Lisa explained:
It’s been really helpful being able to see some of the behind the scenes work and what it looks like when a research project proposal comes in.
Understanding what a project might look like and watching the process, learning how CCLG scrutinise proposals to ensure they are high quality and how they reach a decision whether to fund them or not, has been really interesting.
I think I can be a better fundraiser if I can talk more confidently about that. It's important we can articulate CCLG’s work, explain where the money raised goes and how it will be used.
[And] I've been able to join discussions about CCLG’s research strategy and some of those bigger conversations about the charity - what they do and how they involve those with lived experiences.
[And] we talk about CCLG being the experts in childhood cancer and part of what they do is bringing together professionals. I've seen that in action.
I don't know if this word is too big really, but joining the PPI groups has been empowering. I’ve felt really listened to. My voice is important to CCLG. And in some way, this has helped me through the grieving process too, as much as the focus on fundraising has for so many of George’s loved ones.
Why raising awareness is so important
As well as fundraising, Lisa and David are passionate about raising awareness of childhood cancer and the issues families face.
Lisa said: “We want to shout loud about childhood cancer for all of those who can’t. We know it is what George would have wanted us to do – think of others. The work we do is championing for children, young people, parents and carers who are currently living through the challenges this awful disease presents.”
A huge well done and thank you to Lisa, David and their wonderful supporters
Lizzie Goates, CCLG’s Community and Corporates Fundraising Manager, praised the amazing work done by Lisa and David:
We’d like to say a huge well done and thank you to Lisa, David and their wonderful supporters for all their incredible efforts in George’s memory. The funds they’ve raised, and continue to raise, will enable us to continue funding world-class research that will help change the future for children with rhabdomyosarcoma.
What’s next for Just George?
Lisa and David are determined to keep fundraising, and funding more pioneering research. They are hosting the Just George Golden Ball on 27 September at Chippenham Hall and they and their supporters have several Christmas-related activities planned.
David said they will not stop:
There is no time to wait. Children have been diagnosed today and will be tomorrow. We hope that no family will have to endure what we have, and we will make George proud by raising funds and awareness that will make a real difference.
Find out more about the research projects Just George has helped fund: