Don a bandana and raise awareness of brain tumours

Bandanas for Brain Tumours Day, an initiative by The Brain Tumour Charity, will be taking place this year on Friday, March 6.

Portland mother-of-two, Sam Tucker, will host a fundraising event at Tesco, Easton, selling bandanas, badges and pens.

Ms Tucker’s four-year-old daughter, Molly Poole, was diagnosed with a Medulloblastoma brain tumour in 2013.

Ms Tucker said she was keen to raise awareness and help bring in money to accelerate research that could help save lives.

She said: “It’s something that The Brain Tumour Charity does every year. The bandanas are always that loud so that people then say, ‘What’s it all about?’" 

Molly, whose story featured on Children In Need, has undergone a 10-hour operation, five cycles of chemotherapy and eight weeks of radiotherapy since being diagnosed.

Ms Tucker said: "We had results on a cranio-spinal MRI a week ago. They call her condition now stable, which means there was no change in the scan."

A Facebook page called 'Molly's Magic' has been set up to share Molly's journey.

She said: “She’s doing amazingly well. I call it ‘Molly’s Magic’ because there’s something about her which is just magnetic.”

An event was chosen to be held at Tesco due to the store’s great relationship with the family.

Debbie Lindoe, Tesco community champion, said she met Sam after she asked to put up cards helping people identify signs and symptoms of brain tumours in children.

She said: "I just got chatting to Molly and found out what a lovely, sweet girl she is.

“It escalated from there and we got chatting. I asked was there any way we could help."

Ms Lindoe revealed plans are in place for Molly to have a behind-the-scenes tour of the store's bakery.

She said: "Her favourite things are cookies. We are going to organise a trip for her to come in and visit our bakery and see how our cookies are made."

Ms Tucker will be at the store with volunteers between 10am and 6pm, selling bandanas for £3.50.

She said: “This is all about me trying to raise awareness and get some money in the pot.”

“Come along, say hello, buy a bandana, buy a pen and become brain tumour aware.” 

Money raised from the event will go towards Molly’s fundraising group, which is part of The Brain Tumour Charity. 

In addition to these fundraising efforts, an evening of clairvoyance will take place on May 14 at the YMCA, Portland. 

Tickets, priced at £7.50, will be available to buy from March 6. 

If you would like any more information on these events, search for ‘Molly’s Magic – Our journey’ on Facebook or call Sam on 07813758134.