A FUNDRAISING project with a bit of extra fizz been launched for the Oxford Children’s Hospital.
The Waley Cohen family – including Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey Sam – has already raised more than £1m to name a ward in memory of Tom Waley Cohen, who died in 2004 aged 19.
Now his older brother, Marcus Waley Cohen, hopes to raise another £30,000 for specialist equipment and to help quell youngsters’ nerves as they wait for surgery.
The entrepreneur is using his natural energy drinks company Firefly Tonics to raise the cash.
He said: “My youngest brother Tom was treated at the old John Radcliffe children’s ward.
“He was amazingly brave and a wonderful character, but he eventually succumbed to cancer.
“As a family we really wanted to raise money in his memory and to help the Oxford Children’s Hospital to create a world-class centre for other sick children.”
Tom, from Edgehill, near Banbury, was diagnosed with the rare bone cancer Ewing’s sarcoma in his left leg at the age of 10. Tom’s Ward at the unit is named in his memory.
Doctors at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre decided to amputate the leg below the knee, before a course of chemotherapy at the John Radcliffe Hospital. But the cancer returned in 2003, and despite a course of radiotherapy, he died in July 2004.
The Firefly Tonics range has launched a new tangerine and lime flavoured drink, called Step Up, which will feature an image called KIDS created by artist Michael Craig-Martin for the atrium of the hospital.
Ten pence from every £1.49 bottle sold will go towards decorating the walls connecting the children’s wards with the operating theatres, and towards buying specialist medical equipment.
In 2008 Marcus’s brother Sam Waley Cohen helped raise £50,000 for the Oxford Children’s Hospital, with a roller disco in London.
He was helped to organise it by Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge.
Andrew House, head of major fifts at the ORH, added: “This is such an innovative fundraising idea, which combines Marcus’s passion for his business with his very genuine support of the Children’s Hospital.
“Over the years Marcus and his family have raised over £1m for the Children’s Hospital, helping to get the hospital built.”
And 10p from every special bottle will go to the Children’s hospital. Follow the ‘Step Up’ campaign fireflytonics.com/chox To help even more text ‘CHOX’ to 70099* to donate £1 to the Oxford Children’s Hospital
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