Charity of the Month: Childhood Cancer Awareness - Amber’s Army
September was a difficult month for us to choose just one charity to highlight so instead we will be featuring a different charity each week.
Why was it so difficult? Well, simply because this month features two words that should never be associated together, Childhood Cancer Awareness.
Going Gold for September is well known to those who have been or know of someone affected by childhood cancer. Whether rare or not, the effects can be life changing and sadly, in some cases, sadly, life ending.
The aim for this month is for us to raise awareness by not only sharing some of the scary statistics that surround this horrible disease but also the stories behind some of our local charities that help not only with grants and information but also they listen because they know firsthand what parents are going through.
Our first charity we are shining a spotlight on this month is Amber's Army.
Amber’s Army is a Norfolk-based family charity, aiming to ‘Create Rainbows in the Darkest of Days’ for Norfolk families who have a child with a terminal cancer diagnosis. The charity was established in 2023 by the parents of Amber Sheehy, Jon & Amanda, in their daughter’s memory.
Football crazy Amber was just like any other 5-year-old but in 2019, she started having headaches which a GP advised was likely to be childhood migraines. Further tests, surgeries, and scans revealed that Amber in fact had a medulloblastoma brain tumour and to top it off, meningitis. Surgery to remove the tumour and subsequent, proton treatment in Germany, chemotherapy, Amanda & Jon were given the amazing news that Amber was cancer-free. This is what every family hopes to hear after seeing their child go through something so horrible, but sadly, this news was short lived. In April 2022 they were told that Amber’s cancer had returned and this time there was nothing more that could be done for her and that she would now be faced with palliative care. She fought like a true warrior but sadly, on the 14th of January 2023, just an hour before her 9th birthday, beautiful little Amber lost her cancer battle aged just 8.
Sometimes siblings and other family members can feel excluded when facing such a difficult time so ‘Creating Rainbows in the Darkest of Days’ is exactly that, helping families to create precious memories together. This can be a break away for the family, an amazing experience, or just assistance with other means of emotional and financial support.
Find out more about Amber's Army and its mission here.
Leathes Prior is proud to be sponsoring Amber’s Army not just once but twice during September, the first of which is with sponsorship for Run Norwich 2024 on 8th September, we also have a team of runners taking part in the event raising funds for the charity and then again on 21st September at the Amber’s Army Ball. Please consider joining us in supporting this fantastic charity by donating to our Just Giving page here.