Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

We are looking to continue to raise money for Bright Red in memory of Stephen Rickaby, a great mate, friend to many & also a loving Husband, Father & Son. 

Stephen was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) back in 2021, and we were all left heart broken when Stephen passed away earlier this year.

He was genuinely one of the most kind, helpful & selfless individuals you could have met and he always put others first even especially so when dealing with his illness.

Never complaining about his condition once,  despite the severe pain he was constantly in, or the intrusive treatment he had to undertake. He remained positive throughout & was only ever focused on the end goal of getting himself better.

We as a group of friends have all been taking on a variety of challenges in his memory, be this hiking & cycling but next up is a running challenge & the GNR an iconic event.

Myself, my brother Neil & his Wife Laura, are taking on this challenge on running the GNR this year on behalf of Bright Red.

A little bit of pain by pushing our bodies to their limits is nothing to what Stephen went through and we are all driven to achieve our goals / target's as a legacy to him, but also importantly looking to raise awareness of this disease & raising money to help others who are diagnosed with any form of Leukaemia.

Spotting the signs of Leukaemia

According to Leukaemia Care, "Currently, patients with leukaemia have a significantly higher rate of emergency diagnosis than other forms of cancer. The highest emergency presentation rates for any cancer type occur in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), at 66% of patients. This is a huge difference when compared with the overall cancer emergency presentation percentage (21%).

Unfortunately many people aren’t aware of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia until they or someone they know is diagnosed. This leads to a delay in visiting a GP, which can delay a diagnosis, worsening the outcomes for patients.

Quite often, due to the non-specific nature of the symptoms and relative rarity of leukaemia, people are misdiagnosed by their GP or attend several times before diagnosis. This means that there is a delay at primary healthcare.  

Early diagnosis saves lives"

The signs are:

1. Fatigue
2. Shortness of breath
3. Fever or night sweats
4. Bruising or bleeding
5. Bone/joint pain
6. Repeated infections 
7. Thirst

About Bright Red

They are just a team of two, Lisa and Angela. 

Bright Red focus our support on the northern region, and help patients who are dealing with a wide range of blood cancers. The more common diseases are leukaemia's, lymphomas, and myelomas. We also help support patients suffering from myelodysplasia and myeloproliferative diseases.

We are able to review grant applications from any adult haematological unit in the northern region – hospitals include Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Tyneside Hospital, Wansbeck Hospital, North Tees, The Friarage, Hexham General, North Cumbria, James Cook, and Durham Hospital. Support can include investment in improving patient care or contributing towards staff development.

Bright Red fully fund 5 Haematology nurses across the region and have for the past seven years! Each nurse work in a different hospital within the North East. As well as the nurses we have also funded the isolation rooms, waiting area, patient toiletry bags and provide patient care awards. One of our goals is to support research into blood cancers. Since 1996 more than 4 million has been donated to support research at local academic institutions. 

We assist in the education and training of healthcare professionals dedicated to treating patients with blood cancer. 

We have various events and fundraising ideas this year, some of which include our very popular memorial tree planting at Northumberlandia in Northumberland. This is a chance for people who have lost a loved one and would like to plant a tree in memory, which will last for years to come. We have a new site this year at Weetslade Country park in Wide open, which we are hoping to start planting from October this year. We also have other events including a dragon boat race, a charity golf day and even an abseil down a wind turbine which will be the worlds first! 

Bright Red have organised lots of events again this year, which every single penny raised goes directly to helping those with all types of blood cancers so please check out the Facebook / Instagram pages for more details.

Bright Red | Fighting blood cancer for a brighter future

Donations

Stephen's death will not be in vain. If we can raise as much awareness of the signs and symptoms for leukaemia, or any blood cancer then we can help prevent what Stephen, his family & friends went through happening to another family. The aim is to turn this awful experience into something positive, and we are sure Stephen will be proud that his legacy will be put to this great cause & charity.

If you could spare any money say £5 /£10 it would be greatly appreciated. You would also be making such a huge difference to this amazing charity, and to people living with blood cancer.

Thanks for reading,

Kieran, Neil & Laura

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