Throughout November and December, Head of Adult Learning & Education Support at Cirencester College, Karen Bell, has raised over £1000 for Brain Tumour Research.
Each academic year Cirencester College supports a staff nominated charity, and Brain Tumour Research was nominated by Karen, who fundraises for the charity every year following her granddaughter Myah’s brain tumour diagnosis in 2015.
Karen, who is a keen artist, organised nine bauble decorating workshops to raise money for the charity. These included ‘Baubles and Bubbly’ parties for adult learners at the College, several bauble parties in people’s homes, staff and student enrichment sessions at the College, and a session with students doing an enterprise project. The students then held a bauble sale and raised over £100.
The grand total from Karen’s fundraising efforts is currently at £1032.
Karen said ‘’The workshops have been a great fun way to raise money for Brain Tumour Research. It has been lovely watching people get so enthused with the variety of colours and enjoying the whole creative process with their friends. I had no idea it would be so popular and will need to start earlier next year as I ran out of evenings to be able to run the workshops!”
One in three people knows someone affected by a brain tumour and they kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours.
Mel Tilley, Community Development Manager at Brain Tumour Research said “We’re delighted to be working with Cirencester College to help us raise awareness and funds of this devastating disease. Karen has been a great supporter of the charity since her granddaughter’s diagnosis and her workshops have been very popular. We know the team has lots of ideas for fundraising and awareness days for the rest of the year and look forward to seeing them come to fruition.”
For more information please contact chloe.suter@cirencester.ac.uk
