This year the committee have chosen two local charities that help children and their families in Bexhill and surrounding areas deal with the devastating news that they have cancer. Helping with creating happy memories and giving treats to make life just a little bit easier. We hope you will agree these are such worthwhile charities and will give generously to the procession collection.

JACK JEFFREYS SUPERHERO TRUST

Jack was your typical happy, cheeky 4 year old boy, with a passion for Thomas the Tank Engine, Minions, Disney Cars and Superhero’s! Sadly, on the 7th August 2017 he was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma- a childhood cancer. Jack gained his angel wings on Saturday 21st July 2018 just 10 days before his 5th birthday.

We all felt very strongly that this would not be the end and vowed to carry on a legacy for Jack to keep his name and memory alive.

And so came the ‘Jack Jeffreys Superhero Trust’.

The Trust, supported by The Bradley Lowery Foundation, raises funds to help create memories for children with cancer and other life threatening/limiting conditions and their families in different ways, whether in or out of hospital, across London and the South East.

We do a number of things including- – Jack’s Essential Bag- a bag containing some useful things for families with children diagnosed with cancer at Conquest Hospital – Jack’s VIP Experience- a day at Charlton Athletic FC in an executive box – Jack’s Days Out- we pay for registered families to have a day out at a local attraction – Jack’s Beach Hut Experience- with the support of The Town Hut, families can spend a day at the beach with the security and comfort of a beach hut. We also pay for their parking and snacks. – Christmas stockings for children in hospital – Easter Eggs for children in hospital.

CHILDREN WITH CANCER FUND

CWCF was formed in July 1998 and is made up of a small office team and local volunteers, with the main thought being to enable the children, and families of the children with cancer, to have a quality of life that we would hope to have ourselves.

Most of the time it means giving them treats or buying them something they have missed out on, normally due to the fact that their money has been spent fighting the illness or burning up petrol going to and from the hospital for treatment.

We have gone from strength to strength granting wishes such as laptops, trips, theatre breaks, football tickets, bedroom makeovers, providing cookers, dishwashers – the list goes on and on!

In addition to individual wishes, we now annually take a number of families away for a short break, over recent years to the Isle Of Wight. We also have two ten-berth caravans and one six-berth caravan where families can go on holiday and spend quality time together. We organise numerous outings for all our families which gives them the opportunity to get together with others going through similar experiences and allows them to form friendships and build support networks.

The reason that we have been able to accomplish all of this is because the local community has supported us so well, and we are are forever grateful for this.