A recent fundraising event at Paultons Park involving mascot Muddles the bear generated more than £400 for The Karen Ingram Foundation, with the park owners kindly donating an additional £600 following its success.
Cosham resident Tom Ingram established the foundation in 2008 when he was 13 after his mum Karen died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma that year, aged just 40, with the aim to raise awareness and improve survival rates for others.
Tom, now 26, said: ‘The support we have received from the whole Paultons team has been truly remarkable. Having grown up with the park, it’s been an honour to fundraise in my mother’s memory at a place where we shared so many happy days out over the years. We really enjoyed our time at the park; raising funds and awareness in to our cause and also creating some smiles along the way, especially after the year we have all had.
‘We would like to thank Sara and the team for making us feel so welcome and for their generous donation and support.’
Money raised from the event will be given to medical researchers at The Centre For Cancer Immunology who undertake clinical cancer trials to see which treatments are most effective at beating the disease.
Human resources director at Paultons Park, Sara Mancey, added: ‘We were pleased to be able to offer our support to Tom and The Karen Ingram Foundation by hosting a fundraising stand at the park at the end of August. Muddles the bear certainly proved very popular with our guests.
‘Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a terrible disease and Tom should be very proud of what he has achieved so far in his mother’s memory and for his efforts to raise funds for the research team at the Centre for Cancer Immunology.’
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer which affects the cells of the lymphatic system known as white blood cells.
There are more than 50 different types of the disease, making it the fifth most common cancer in the UK with 13,000 new diagnoses each year and around 4,700 attributable deaths.
To make a donation please visit kareningram.org/donate