Help support the players’ Charity of the Year this weekend
The Hatters are lending their support to Brain Tumour Research’s Wear A Hat Day campaign this Saturday when Nathan Jones’ side take on Blackpool at Kenilworth Road.
During the home match against the Tangerines on Saturday 1 April, there will be a collection for the charity and supporters are being asked to wear their straw boaters, (or any hat you like), to raise awareness of the thousands of people diagnosed with brain tumours each year.
The first team chose the national charity based in Milton Keynes as their Charity of the Year, with the Hatters helping to highlight the fact that brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer – yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.
March is Brain Tumour Awareness Month, which culminates on Friday 31 March with the UK-wide fundraising event, Wear A Hat Day.
Now in its eighth year, Wear A Hat Day is supported by Debbie McGee, who lost husband Paul Daniels to a brain tumour a year ago, celebrated milliner Stephen Jones OBE, who cared for a terminally ill friend, actress and broadcaster Sheila Hancock CBE, whose grandson was successfully treated, and singer, songwriter and record producer John Newman, who is awaiting treatment for his second brain tumour.
Cameron McGeehan and Stephen O’Donnell were among the players who met with the charity at the start of the season to discuss ways of helping raise awareness.
McGeehan said: “We are delighted to be supporting such a worthy cause. We were shocked to discover that so many young people die from this type of cancer, including children and the parents of young children. The options for brain tumour patients are so limited.
“This is why we are supporting Brain Tumour Research – families with loved ones diagnosed with brain tumours need to have the comfort that more effective treatments have been identified and ultimately a cure found for this devastating disease.”
O’Donnell added: “We were only too happy to pose for pictures at the training ground recently in the charity’s special top hat, and it would be fantastic if everyone could come to the match on 1st April wearing a hat of any description. If they feel able to make a donation to Brain Tumour Research too, so much the better.”
Carol Robertson, Head of Community Fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are very grateful to the Hatters for their help in raising awareness of this devastating disease. The money raised, simply by having fun with hats, will go towards sustainable research that will bring us closer to a cure for brain tumours.”
Wear A Hat Day will see schools, workplaces, families and individuals across the UK fundraising and taking part in all manner of hat-themed fun events to raise awareness of brain tumours and help fund life-saving research. Funds raised through 2017’s event will develop the charity’s network of world-class brain tumour research centres in the UK.
To get involved, or donate, please visit: www.wearahatday.org