A Barrow family’s fundraising in memory of their five-year-old son has raised over £300,000 for research into the type of cancer he died from.
Jake Ellis died from rhabdomyosarcoma in 2008, and since then, his mum, Jo-Ann, dad Nick, sister Poppy, and brother Luke, along with a legion of supporters, have been tirelessly raising funds to help support research into the disease through Team Jake, for CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association.
Over 17 years, Team Jake has taken on countless challenges and organised activities to raise funds, including the annual Jake Ellis Charity Ball, the London to Paris Cycle Challenge, the Great North Run, Christmas jumper nights, charity golf days, and the annual Keswick to Barrow and Keswick to Coniston Walks.
Jo-Ann said that when the family started their fundraising for CCLG, they never envisaged raising such a huge sum, and that they will continue with their efforts as there are still many more families that need their help.
She said: “We never thought we’d hit this milestone. It’s beyond our wildest dreams. We’re over the moon with everything people have done to support us over the years.
“We just thought we’d like to give something back after losing Jake. We started by doing small, events, each of them quite personal.
“Over the years, we’ve succeeded in a few things, and it’s just got bigger and bigger.
“We’ll continue to chip away at it. We know there’s still children getting diagnosed that need our help.
“CCLG work with researchers to bring better methods and ways of saving these kids, so we’ve got to keep going to help them do that.
“Especially with Jake’s form of cancer, it’s such an aggressive type, and we don’t want any other parents to go through the loss of their child, so whatever we can do to contribute to that is what keeps driving us on.”
Thanks to the incredible efforts of the Ellis family and their supporters, Team Jake has helped CCLG fund eight vital research projects over the years, helping to improve treatment, care and outcomes for children like Jake.
Jo-Ann added: “It was always in our minds to turn something negative into something positive, and I think we’ve definitely achieved that.
“CCLG is always very good at feeding back on what the money is being spent on and how it’s helping children and being put to where it’s needed the most.
“You feel like you’re making a massive difference when you find out what the projects are doing and how they’ve gone.
“Jake would definitely be proud of us.”
Jo-Ann said that since starting the fund, and before that, during Jake’s treatment, the Ellis family has seen phenomenal support from the close-knit community of Barrow, which she described as massively important.
She said: “Barrow is the kind of town where everyone knows each other, so when someone is going through something like treatment, people are very good at putting an arm around them and supporting those families.
“People did that with me and Nick, supporting us through the loss of Jake, but also our hopes of giving other children a better prognosis going forward.
“Once one person has told that story to someone else, they want to get involved.
“The community support has been phenomenal and we’re so grateful to have that support in our quest to help find a cure or help a child overcome cancer in a less aggressive way.
“I just want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years, it’s really appreciated.”
Lizzie Goates, community and relationship fundraising manager at CCLG, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Ellis family and everyone who has supported Team Jake.
“Their dedication and generosity are both hugely humbling and inspiring and the funds they’ve raised are helping us to fund groundbreaking research that will create a brighter future for children and young people with cancer.”
To find out more about Team Jake, or to donate or fundraise for the fund, visit https://specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/team-jake/
