Blair's Rb Journey

Our Story:
In December 2024, our one year old son Blair, was diagnosed with the rare form of eye cancer retinoblastoma. Blair's condition was described by the doctor's as "advanced", with sizeable tumours in each of his eyes. Retinoblastoma only affects 40-50 children in the UK each year, that's only 2% of all children's cancer, which means it's largely unheard of and unknown. As with any cancer, early diagnosis is crucial to prevent spread to the brain, shrink the tumours and preserve a child's vision where possible. The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT) support retinoblastoma by promoting awareness, through the likes of day to day ophthalmology services (e.g. Specsavers), fund research and support families directly, given the upheaval to daily life and increased financial burdens. Blair's journey is documented on Facebook, and has seen him feature as of May 2025 in Edinburgh Live, the Daily Record and STV News. Blair was also the topic of a question to Scotland First Minister John Swinney at FMQs in April 2025. As of June 2025 Blair's treatment remained active and ongoing. 
 
Our Hope:
We created Blair’s page to provide updates on his condition and treatment, including sharing ways throughout we can all support Blair and other children like him (such as giving blood if you can). It’s also been important to thank those who continue to support us, even the small gestures, during a highly emotional time of turmoil and upset. Primarily however, we are trying to do two things. Firstly raise as much awareness as possible, even if a child doesn’t have retinoblastoma but perhaps has a sign, like a squint in the eye, the default assumption should be to think the worst and ensure an urgent assessment. Because it’s largely unknown, the standard is a routine appointment which can take months. The more people who know about it can ask the question and hopefully support early diagnosis for others. Secondly, we want to raise money to support CHECT, a niche charity focused exclusively on retinoblastoma. Every penny of any donation to this page, will go toward awareness campaigns, further research and family support. Naturally, funding helps charities in their work and CHECT are well placed to continue taking forward this campaign.  
 
Our Plans:
Blair is surrounded by an extraordinary team of people supporting him and each other daily. Blair’s immediate family live in Fife Scotland and South Yorkshire England, all of whom are determined to undertake an event of some kind in an effort to receive sponsorship donations to this page. Whilst some events are already confirmed, many are still being finalised. It is our intention to run this fundraising campaign for at least 12 months, until May 2026 (the date of the Edinburgh Marathon). See calendar table in updates for schedule of events. 
 
This link and page is the only fundraising medium in Blair’s name, by Blair’s family. We have always been keen to launch a singular campaign to maximise potential donations and hopefully, further grow with matched funding. We want people to donate to sponsor Blair, not individual activities or people. This is a team effort!
 
Thank you to all our amazing participants and message us if you’d like to get involved! You’ll receive the warm thanks and support of this platform for raising money and awareness, without having to setup your own fundraising page and no minimum targets to worry about! We’ll be sure to promote and recognise your efforts wrapped in a CHECT t-shirt! Simply do something new, or undertake an existing event with us, then use this page for donations (remember one big team)!
 
Our Updates:
Please considering following us HERE for updates on both Blair’s progress and the latest with fundraising activity!
 
Thank you for donating to Blair and his retinoblastoma journey by supporting the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT). Your incredibly kind donation will continue awareness, research and family support for children affected by retinoblastoma. Thank you!