Blue Day is back celebrating 11th year

This year’s Blue Day will be taking place on May 5 – the day before Pompey’s final home game of the season.

The fundraiser, organised by the Tom Prince Cancer Trust, encourages people to wear blue and make a donation in memory of teenager Tom Prince. The 15-year-old, who was a massive Pompey fan, died in 2004 on the eve of his 16th birthday of rare bone cancer osteosarcoma.

Last year marked the 10th Blue Day and thanks to the efforts of the people in Portsmouth the trust reached the £1m target it set following Tom’s death.

Since getting the target Tom’s parents Clinton and Adele, from Southsea, have been looking at where to donate the money.

And now they are looking forward to boosting the amount with Blue Day, which is backed by The News and Pompey.

Clinton said: ‘With the end of the season approaching, there has been a lot of interest in Blue Day so we’ve decided to organise it again.

‘People in Portsmouth have been asking us about it and are interested to see how we are getting on.

‘It is always such a fantastic day with businesses and schools putting in a lot of effort.

‘Last year’s Blue Day helped us reach our £1m target and we have been making a lot of enquiries about where to donate the money.

‘We want to really make a difference with it and help fund research into osteosarcoma.’

Registration is now open for Blue Day and everyone who signs up will feature on a Roll of Honour in The News and on the website at portsmouth.co.uk.

In previous years, along with wearing blue, people have sold blue cakes, had blue-themed raffles and dyed their hair blue.

Clinton added: ‘Blue Day is so unique to Portsmouth and with the backing of The News and Pompey it’s always a fantastic event.

‘We’re really looking forward to it.’

For more information on Blue Day or to register for the event visit the Tom Prince Cancer Trust website at tomprince.co.uk.