THE family and friends of a tragic young boy who lost his brave battle against cancer raised £10,000 at a charity ball held in his memory.
Six-year-old Charlie Stansfield died from an aggressive form of childhood cancer, called neuroblastoma, last September.
His parents Julie and Andrew Stansfield, of Blackpool Old Road, Poulton, wanted to raise the cash as a way of saying thank you to several different charities which helped Charlie throughout his short life.
Mrs Stansfield said: “What a fantastic night we had in memory of our beautiful son.
“We wouldn’t have got through the last 12 months without the support of our very special friends, who throughout the year have fundraised and kept Charlie’s memory alive.
“People were very generous and we made a great amount of money for charities that helped all our family while Charlie was ill and still do now.”
Charlie had to endure surgery, including a stem cell transplant and high-dose chemotherapy, during his life battling cancer.
The youngster had been in remission from the childhood cancer when he became ill again in May last year and was given just months to live.
The ball, which was attended by 210 people at the Blackpool Hilton Hotel, was co-organised by the Stansfields’ friends Paul Alker and Kensi Gibrail.
Mr Alker had previously raised £4,500 for the charities by completing the Three Peaks Challenge earlier this year.
Mr Gibrail said: “Julie and Andrew wanted to say thank you to the charities for helping Charlie.
“A good night was had by all and everyone knew the reason why they were there.
“We had some fantastic auction prizes and everybody there had an affinity with Charlie so they were very generous.”
Among the charities to benefit from the gala evening were Brian House, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, When You Wish On a Star, Clic Sargent, The Rainbow Trust and Miles of Smiles.
An auction was held during the ball with a number of prizes on offer including a signed Blackpool shirt, a Lancashire County Cricket Club bat and tickets to the Statoil Tennis Masters competition at The Royal Albert Hall.
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