A group of Star Wars costumers patrolled Dorset’s beaches last month to raise vital funds for, and awareness of, a Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) Special Named Fund.
Star Wars fanatic Conrad Prince and his wife Mel have been tirelessly fundraising for childhood cancer research in memory of their two-year-old son, Joel, who passed away in January 2015, having been diagnosed with an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (AT/RT) six months before.
They set up The Joel Prince Starlight Fund to raise funds in his name to support vital research into this extremely rare type of childhood cancer.
Since then, they’ve raised more than £100,000 and reached the incredible milestone figure at a special event to mark the fifth anniversary of the fund in February 2020. It was there that Joel was made an honorary Stormtrooper by members of the 501st Legion’s UK Garrison, a Star Wars Imperial costuming organisation, of which Conrad is a member.
More recently, support for the fund arrived from the Britannia Patrol, along with other Star Wars costumers from across the UK, who use their screen accurate Sandtrooper costumes to raise money for various charities and organisations across the country.
This year, they decided to do a 'three-beach challenge', where, in full costumes, they would take on a sponsored walk at three beaches to raise funds and awareness for three separate causes, one of which is the Joel Prince Starlight Fund.
Patrol member Kev Rankin first met Conrad at an event last year and, after having heard his story, suggested the fund as one of the challenge’s chosen causes.
He then set to work on organising a patrol along the coastline from Sandbanks, in Poole, to Bournemouth, with the added challenge of keeping it a surprise from Conrad - who believed he was doing a photo shoot in his full Shoretrooper costume - until the morning of the event.
Joining Conrad and Kevin on the walk were Mike Ackland, who also helped organise the day, David Wells, Luke Titcombe, Paul Beer and Doug Phillips, assisted by Jo Spice and Mel, to look after them in costume.
Mel said:
Conrad was overwhelmed, but so happy to see everyone.
He had no idea that his fellow Star Wars costumers had planned this surprise for months to raise money for Joel's fund.
He fell for the cover story, and we managed to fool him right up to the final minute when the surprise was revealed.
The day went really well; everyone loved the costumes and smiles were seen on many faces up and down the beach between Poole and Bournemouth.
It was a totally fantastic day!
Kev said that with Conrad being such an extremely popular member of the close-knit costuming community, everyone involved jumped at the chance of doing something to support the Prince family in their efforts.
He explained:
When Conrad first told me his back story, listening to him blew me away a little bit.
His family’s story is inspiring, what they’ve done with the fundraising.
We all love Conrad very much, and he does things at the drop of the hat for everyone.
Conrad has given so much to everyone, the enthusiasm and hard work he puts in, and helping everyone else out, and this was our way of paying him back.
We wanted Conrad to know that everyone around him, we’re here to support him and the family, and the work that CCLG does.
Having already trekked five miles along the beach in hot conditions and heavy costumes, the team headed back to the hotel, where, after a brief lunch to rest some weary legs, they kitted back up to patrol the area and raise further awareness of the fund and CCLG's cause and mission.
This, Kev said, was an important aim for the day:
“We wanted to raise a lot of awareness about Joel’s fund and CCLG and the work it does, which is vital.
We try and raise money at every event we do for charity, but we know after COVID and people’s pressures on bills at the moment, not everyone can afford to give, so awareness was a very important objective.
Everyone was drawn to us, because of the costumes. They asked what it was in aid of and why we were doing it, they wanted to find out more, which was great.
Kev thanked Ian Goodacre, Paul Hart-Jones and the team at Sandbanks Hotel, who provided free accommodation for the Prince family and a base for the event, in addition to assisting in the surprise, helping out on the day and joining in on the walk.
He said: “Their support was invaluable, and we couldn’t have pulled off the event without them.”
Mel added: “Our thanks and gratitude go to Paul, Ian and staff at Sandbanks Hotel, for their top-class hospitality and generosity in supporting this day for Joel's fund.
“A huge thanks also to an amazing bunch of guys and gals who decided to surprise Conrad with this special troop in Poole, and to everyone who donated on the day.
“And to Mike and Kevin, thank you, this would never have happened without the kind-est of friends.”
You can still support the team’s patrol by donating.