Happy Listers Receive Award from PM

Hall Family (l-r) Jesse, Andrew, Skye and Sally (Hall Family)

A year after their son died after suffering from cancer, Sally and Andrew Hall have been recognised for their extraordinary efforts to raise money for cancer charities by Prime Minister David Cameron.

During his treatment for an aggressive brain tumour, five year-old Skye Hall wondered how many loom bands it would take to reach the moon. Although he was still receiving treatment for the aggressive disease, he decided to set his mind to making the world’s longest loom band bracelet. After Skye’s death in August last year, his parents decided to finish what their son started. With the help of schoolchildren, individuals and public figures like Richard Branson, presenter Stephen Mulhern and actress Sarah Parrish, the “Loom to the Moon” chain set a new world record: 12.4km (7.7 miles) long. Sally and Andrew have since set up the “Blue Skye Thinking” charity, which has raised more than £200,000 - enough to fund a four-year research project into new treatment methods for childhood tumours at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research.

The Prime Minister commended the 2015 Happy Listers for their incredible fundraising successes, saying: “Sally and Andy have shown incredible strength in continuing Skye’s work following his death. They have raised a huge amount of money to fund research to help other children with brain tumours. To those children and their families they truly are Points of Light.”

Andrew and Sally received the award this morning at Sgurr Alasdair, the highest point on the Isle of Skye, the endpoint of the 2Skye4Skye challenge, their latest fundraising initivate. It saw Andrew and an intrepid team journey travel 636 miles by bike, kayak and foot from Blenheim Palace to the Isle of Skye. “We are pleased by the opportunity to highlight the fact that, while brain tumours in children and teenagers remain the number one cancer killer, worldwide cure rates have not improved for 40 years,” Andrew and Sally said, adding: “There is still such a long way to go.”

To support Blue Skye Thinking and their efforts to find cures for childhood cancer, visit their website, www.blueskyethinking.org