Lucien's delight at £7 million charity grant

Lucien (3), of East Dene, was picked to be the face of CLIC Sargent’s campaign to highlight the work it does to support young people with cancer.

CLIC Sargent faced competition from Age UK in a ballot of supermarket giant Morrisons’ colleagues for its new charity partner.

And last week the cancer charity was announced as the overall winner.

As part of the campaign, Lucien’s photo and his family’s story about how CLIC Sargent helped them during his treatment featured on hundreds of posters across Yorkshire.  

His mum Stacie also wrote to her local store to explain how voting for CLIC Sargent could make a difference.

Stacie (25) said the win was fantastic, adding: “Lucien had his last dose of chemotherapy in November and having been through it we know how important it is to get the support you need.

“It is good to know that thanks to Morrisons, if, God forbid, Lucien was to relapse, that CLIC Sargent would be able to help us again. 

“Without CLIC Sargent’s support, I don’t know how we would have coped.

“No family should have to go through the trauma of having a child with cancer without them.”

In May 2015, then two-year-old Lucien was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma - a type of soft-tissue cancer.

He began treatment at Sheffield Children’s Hospital as a high-risk patient who had a 40 per cent chance of survival.

After intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Lucien is now through the worst of his treatment and his condition has improved greatly.

CLIC Sargent will use the funding to increase the amount of financial support it provides to young people and families who are struggling with the extra living expenses a cancer diagnosis brings, like long-distance travel for specialist treatment.     

Its specialist nursing programme, which maximises the amount of time that young people can spend safely at home, will also be given a boost.

Kate Lee, chief executive of CLIC Sargent said: “Thousands of people across the UK like the Knowles families got involved in our campaign and without them this simply wouldn’t have happened.” 

“We cannot thank them enough.

For more information visit www.clicsargent.org.uk.