On Saturday 24 June, the Tom Walker Fund is holding the third Walk for Tom event to help raise funds in aid of Cancer Research Wales. Wherever you live and whatever your age or ability, participants are invited to go for walk to help fund lifesaving research for cancer patients in Wales in honour of Tom Walker. Perhaps you could follow one of your favourite routes, or why not do something completely different, like a walk in the dark.

To sign up, go to Walk for Tom registration.

Tom Walker was a quiet, considerate and caring boy from Devauden, Monmouthshire.

On Friday 23 March 2018 Tom and his father, Tim, took part in the first Brecon Beacons Night Hike, raising £700 for Cancer Research Wales. Tom found it hard but he carried on with lots of encouragement, despite being the youngest participant on the hike.

Sadly, Tom fell ill on Monday 28 May 2018, and after just over two weeks of illness with a range of conditions, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia on Wednesday 13 June. His condition rapidly worsened while he was having an operation on Thursday 14 June to prepare him for chemotherapy, and he died after returning to intensive care that afternoon. He was aged 13.

Following Tom's sad passing, his parents, Tim and Debbie, sisters Holly and Emily, and the amazing community in the Monmouth area, have tirelessly raised money for the Tom Walker fund at Cancer Research Wales to pay for research in his memory. The first researcher started work in January 2021 at Cardiff University, researching into a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia, and the Tom Walker fund is about to fund research into brain cancer.

This is the third Walk for Tom, with the first two held during the coronavirus pandemic in March 2021 and June 2022, with 250 people taking part as far away as Kenya and India, and we're hoping a similar number will do so this time.

Please note that all funds raised from the Walk for Tom event will be donated to Cancer Research Wales, specifically restricted to the Tom Walker fund.