Emotional year for fundraising mother

30 December 2025

Andy GiddingsWest Midlands

News image — Lucy says she now has a better appreciation of the treatment young cancer patients go through

Family A boy with brown hair, a woolly brown, white and black top sitting on the lap of a woman with a dark top and brown hair, who is cuddling him — Lucy says she now has a better appreciation of the treatment young cancer patients go through

A woman who set up a charity to raise money for children with cancer has had an "emotional" year after being diagnosed with cancer herself in the summer.

Carter, 14, from Lichfield in Staffordshire, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2016 and he received treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Within weeks, his parents Lucy and Matthew set up the Carter the Brave fundraising group and by the end of an eventful 2025 it has raised close to £600,000.

Lucy said a diagnosis and ongoing treatment for thyroid cancer would not stop her raising further money.

The fundraising total makes Carter the Brave the largest patient-led fundraising campaign to support the children's hospital.

Carter went into remission in 2019 and Lucy said her son was now "probably the best he's been".

She said he was "living life to the full," playing the guitar and cricket, as well as playing in goal for his football team and getting involved in the fundraising.

The biggest charity challenge this year was a 100km (62 mile) sponsored walk across the Sahara in March.

Lucy said walking across sand had been draining and they were travelling in extreme heat while living in basic conditions.

"We all completed it through grit and determination, but the support that we all gave each other was incredible," she said.

Family A line of people walking into the distance in a sandy landscape — The charity's trek across the Sahara in March raised £111,000

The walk raised £111,000, making it their biggest fundraising effort of the year.

Lucy said one of the highlights of the trek had been climbing a massive sand dune, to have their photos taken at the top.

There had been a bug passing through the camp and she said she was determined to reach the top, but had felt really ill and dehydrated.

She said on the walk she had not been feeling great and in June she was diagnosed with advanced thyroid cancer.

Lucy then had two operations to have her thyroids removed over the summer.

Family A large group of people at the top of a large sand dune with footprints in the sand leading to the top — Getting to the top of an enormous sand dune had been a real effort for Lucy

Lucy's treatment included radiotherapy delivered in an iodine capsule, which required her to be in isolation for three days.

She said it gave her an appreciation of what young people like her son have to endure and said: "I've learned so much through my journey and I can't believe how the children go through this."

Her diagnosis had been "hard for all of us really, because it's twice in one family," but she said: "I think its made me more determined really."

Lucy's treatment is ongoing, but so is the fundraising and it included a 26km walk from Tamworth to Birmingham, organised by Handelsbanken, which raised £6,500.

There have also been chef nights, a half marathon around Alton Towers, a Santa day at Birmingham Children's Hospital with The Tavern, Denstone and an end-of-year ball which raised £30,000.

Family A woman with long brown hair and a black dress next to a man with grey hair and a grey beard in a dark suit in front of a colourful background with a large gold statue beside them — Lucy and Matthew attended a fundraising ball at the end of the year

The Carter the Brave charity has three aims - to invest in research, to try to reduce the time young people spend in hospital and to make their stays there more pleasant.

The money raised this year has paid for Amazon vouchers for patients and contributed £50,000 towards the front entrance renovations at the hospital.

Another £63,000 has been given to medical research and £80,000 has been given to pay for equipment to make CT scans more effective.

One project Lucy said she was really passionate about was the creation of a cinema at the hospital, because cancer patients often find themselves unable to leave, because of the risk of infection.

"Carter couldn't go to the cinema for years," she said, and the charity gave £10,000 to set up the cinema and has pledged another £10,000 a year to keep it running.

Family A large yellow teddy bear with a red T-shirt next to a small boy with brown hair and a white T-shirt and a woman with brown hair, a red T-shirt and a blue jacket in a room with a blue wall behind them — Carter the Brave raised more than £100,000 in 2025

Lucy said her end-of-year speech at the ball had been "really emotional".

"I finished it and everyone stood up for a standing ovation and it just went on and on," she said.

The ball had felt different this year, she said, because of her illness and it had been "just a special moment".

Next year's fundraising will involve Matthew climbing Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) 50 times in 10 days during March, with others joining him on two "family days".

In 2027 that will be followed by a walk up Kilimanjaro.

Lucy said her next target will be to get the total raised to £1m, but the fundraising would not stop there.

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