Harry Moseley's Book of Celebration

This is a two-part blog - the second part of which can be found on Mike Briercliffe's (@MikeJulietBravo) site, here.

Harry & Wincey Willis

I’m humbled to announce that my ‘secret project’ is to assist in the compilation of a ‘Book of Celebration’ in tribute to Harry Moseley, who died on 8^th October – aged just 11 – after a four year battle with brain cancer.

Harry has, so far, helped raise over £650,000 for cancer charities, through a combination of public speaking, selling colourful, hand-made, beaded bracelets and - since his passing - from the groundswell of public and celebrity support and fundraising efforts in his memory, a few examples being:

James and Ollie Phelps – Fred and George Weasley from the Harry Potter films – are jumping out of a plane, in Australia, tomorrow (22^nd November), to launch the @DivingForHarry initiative and raise money for Cancer Research UK.

If they raise more than £5,000, they’ll be given parachutes, too.

You can make a donation towards their safe landing (even after the jump) here:

http://www.justgiving.com/DivingForHarryMoseley

Wincey Willis (@WinceyWillis1) and @MummyBarrow won an incredible £10,000 for Harry, on Absolute Radio, just a few days after his passing.

My Twitter buddy @CatGerlach has just released an eBook compilation (with a paperback to come) of 176 flash fiction stories, poems and essays, for just $2.99 – with all proceeds going to Harry’s charity: Help Harry Help Others. You can buy it here:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/104468

Also, check out @Authors4Harry and the work they’re doing.

As for the ‘Book of Celebration’…

Alongside Wincey Willis, and with the blessing of Harry’s mother, Georgie, we’re going to be putting together a compilation of public and celebrity tributes (including passages and quotes from the many cards and letters Georgie received after Harry passed away), along with a selection of short stories by some incredible authors, and – most poignant of all – stories from Georgie herself, on the battle she fought alongside Harry and the inspiration and strength she drew from him.

There have already been some very significant developments, with contribution pledges from Sarah Brown (@SarahBrownUK), Ben Shephard (@BenShephard), Duncan Bannatyne (@DuncanBannatyne) and James Phelps (@James_Phelps) – all of whom agreed to help in a heartbeat.

I’m going to detail more about the nuts and bolts of this project on my blog on Mike Briercliffe’s (@MikeJulietBravo) site, as he has a very healthy network of business contacts who could be a great help in the logistical aspects of pulling the various threads of this endeavour together.

Please do click across, as you may find you can contribute yourself, in some way.

You can reach my blog on Mike’s site by clicking here.

I want to wind this up with a passage from a BBC article on Chloe Gambrill, who was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of six:

Cancer Research UK estimates that about 5,600 more children have survived for at least five years after being diagnosed with cancer than they would have done if survival rates had remained as they were in the early 1970s.

In the early 70s, 33% of children survived leukaemia. Today survival rates stand at more than 80%.

This increase in survival is largely due to the development of combination chemotherapy, which uses a number of different drugs.

And survival rates from neuroblastoma (a nerve tissue cancer) in children have risen from 17 to 64%.

Prof Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said: "More children are surviving cancer than ever before and our efforts are continuing to make an even bigger impact.

"Childhood cancers are difficult to research, with relatively few children diagnosed each year. But our researchers are continuing our efforts to find ways to diagnose the disease earlier and looking for new drugs and making the existing treatments even more effective."

I think it’s important to remember that the continuing support for Harry Moseley is a continuing support for everyone on this planet who has been or will be touched by cancer during their lives – which is, sadly, just about all of us.

Every pound or dollar or euro or yen pushes us further forward to the day when this awful disease will be eradicated from humanity, and until that day, it helps provide further treatment and care to minimise the suffering of those directly affected, increasing survival rates and improving conditions for families in their darkest of times.

Whatever you can donate – whether it be the price of a pint of beer or the proceeds of selling that mansion you don’t need -  it will move us closer to the goal of a cancer-free world. It’s an investment in ourselves, our children, grandchildren and all the people of this world.

Check out Harry’s site and do something positive today:

http://www.helpharryhelpothers.com/