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Oscar's Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity

Fundraising

izzy and jack collecting for oscars
fundraising

You Can Change Lives

Your support and fundraising efforts mean the world to children and families facing paediatric brain tumours. 

So, whether you’re planning an awesome event, taking on one of our annual challenges, or coming up with creative ways to fundraise, your dedication is a game-changer and means the world to us. Together, we can make a real impact.

Get ready to make a difference and have a ton of fun along the way!

Get Involved
Get Involved
GET INVOLVED

Fundraising Your Way

Individual Fundraising

Individual fundraising is a fantastic way to get involved and make a difference. Whether it's running a marathon, hosting a coffee morning, or organising a virtual event, individual fundraising allows you to unleash your creativity and passion while raising vital funds for OSCAR's. Please get in touch to let us know what you would like to do - you might have your own idea, be looking for inspiration or want to join us on one of our events.

Doing things like this are always nice with friends, so see if there is anyone else who wants to join you in whatever venture you take on.
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Corporate Fundraising

Corporate fundraising is a powerful way for businesses to team up with OSCAR's and make a significant impact in the lives of children and families facing brain tumours.

Your workplace could try something as simple as a Christmas Jumper Day or take on a long-distance bike ride. You might also decide to link up with us as a Charity Partner and join our Business Brains network.

As corporate fundraisers you are invaluable to us as you can use your influence and resources to fundraise, raise awareness, and provide essential support. Together, we can build a compassionate and caring community where businesses play a vital role in making a real difference.


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Fundraising in Schools

Fundraising in schools brings students, staff, and the entire community together to support OSCAR's. Children helping other children is an important part of how we work. Students become young heroes, organising fun events like bake sales and talent shows to raise funds for children and families facing brain tumours.

Students learn the joy of giving back and making a positive impact. Join us in making a difference and inspiring a generation of compassionate individuals

We love to work with schools to raise awareness of signs and symptoms of brain tumours and teach children about how charities work. Get in touch to learn more about our schools work.

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Do you need any help or assistance?

Get in touch with us
Get in touch with us

Rachel James

Community Fundraising Assistant
Rachel will join our team on September 1st and will be doing a wide range of tasks including promoting the charity in the local community, developing relationships with different people and organisations, and finding new fundraising opportunities. She comes from a caring background having been a teaching assistant and emotional literacy support assistant in York for many years, and previously leading a community care team. She has also done many years of work in the voluntary sector.

Matthew Taylor

Trustee

Matthew Taylor is Director of the York Health Economics Consortium at the University of York. He has been a supporter of OSCAR’s since its inception and, through his twenty years of research into the measurement of health-related quality of life, Matthew is keenly aware of the huge benefits that new treatments can bring to people living with brain tumours.

Matthew is actively involved in national-level healthcare decision making, having had former roles as the Scientific Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)’s Economic and Methodological Unit and as a committee member for NICE’s Public Health Advisory Group. He has over fifty peer-reviewed scientific publications, including a chapter in the textbook ‘The Business, Policy and Economics of Neurosurgery’.

Ryan Mathew

Clinical Trustee

Ryan Mathew is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds and an Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.

The Hughes Family story had a big impact on Ryan. He first learnt of the charity when he became surgeon to Oscar’s dad, Ian. After a successful surgery, he continued to show great care and concern for the family when Ian became ill again and when Milo, Oscar’s brother, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Ryan is driven to make life outcomes better for brain tumour patients and their families. His extensive work in both research and surgery is testament to that commitment.

His clinical practice covers the full spectrum of general neurosurgery with a subspecialty in brain tumours. His research focuses on advanced brain tumour models, residual therapy-resistant glioma cell populations, local therapeutic treatments and surgical technologies and devices. He peer-reviews for several journals and grant award committees and has published numerous papers.

More information on Ryan’s work

Lisa Dawson

Trustee

Lisa has been a friend of the Hughes family since 2016 and was honoured to be asked in 2022 to represent OSCAR’s PBTC as Social & Digital Trustee.  Both Lisa and her family have taken part in numerous fundraising events and are dedicated to raising awareness of paediatric brain tumours.  Lisa is a social media content creator, blogger and writer and lives in York with her husband Joe and three children, Ella, Max and Leo.

Alice Beckwith

Trustee

Alice has been involved with OSCAR’s PBTC since 2020. She passionately supports the aims of the charity and believes that if the charity can change one life for the better, then it is a success. Working in the public sector for 18 years, Alice has helped transform Adult and Children’s Social Care Services by ensuring heavy investment in preventative services. This is why the impact OSCAR’s work will have on families is at the forefront of Alice’s motivation to be involved.

As partnerships trustee, Alice is keen to involve businesses, trusts and individuals in the work OSCAR’s does and show them the role they can have in providing the base for the charity to continue to expand its projects to help children with brain tumours.

Sarah Jane Gray

Trustee/Secretary

Sarah has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and surgical sales sector and is very familiar with the importance of medical advancements for better patient outcomes. She believes research is essential for improving diagnosis, treatment and prognosis for all children with brain tumours and hopes OSCAR’s PBTC can offer much needed funding to help push the boundaries in finding better ways of curing this devastating disease. Sarah’s focus as a treasurer will ensure record-keeping and accounts meet the conditions of the statutory bodies and compliance with regulatory organisations.

Holly Dixon

Trustee

Holly is mother to George, diagnosed with an ATRT brain tumour in 2022, and works as a primary school teacher. She believes that action to support others -however small- can make a massive difference.


She brings real-life experience of what it is like for a parent navigating everyday life, the NHS, the education system, questions from people and a lively young child with different needs.

meet the oscar's team

Sam Marino

Trustee
Sam was Headteacher at a school where Alfie Hutchinson died from an ependymoma brain tumour, at the age of 10. After becoming close with Alfie’s family Sam found OSCAR’s and reached out to the charity to help support the family, staff, children and local community. 
 
Sam understands the immediate and long term effects on a community when losing a child to a brain tumour. 
 
‘After seeing first hand the amazing work that OSCAR’s do, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be part of the team. I’d like to help raise awareness in educational settings, for teachers and for parents – to empower them to seek early detection/diagnosis. Phil once said to me, ‘You never expect to become part of the brain tumour community, then all of a sudden you are.’ What an inspiring and powerful community it is.”

Marie Hughes

ChAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Marie founded the charity with her husband Ian, who passed away in 2020. She is the mother of four boys. Two of Marie’s sons have died from different types of brain tumours – Oscar who was 9 and Milo who was 5 years old. She is determined to help find better treatments for brain tumours so other children won’t have to go through what her own sons and her family have.

Marie is Chair of the Board of Trustees, working closely withe the team on strategy and vision. Marie lives in Copenhagen with her two other sons, Sebastian and Lucas, and works as a Risk Manager on the Danish railway.