Students at Richard Huish College have come together to raise money for a fellow student to help her get to Disneyland while she battles a terminal illness.
Huish student, Emily Sparks, who studies Childcare and Education, was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of 12, following an eye test that showed irregularities and after further investigations, revealed she has a brain tumour. The next few years consisted of operations and treatments to allow Emily a chance to continue schooling, meet new friends and maintain as much of a normal life as she could for such a young age.
Sadly, after a couple of years, routine scans showed a further three tumours in her spine and later that the brain tumour returned with a second growing. At this point, the risks of operating to try to remove the tumours had become too dangerous, and Emily bravely made the decision to refuse further surgeries.
Emily had started studying at Huish and had made many new friends among her classmates. They were aware of her battles and between them decided they wanted to raise money to send Emily and her younger sister to Disneyland, something Emily wanted to do before she became too ill.
Partnering with the national baking company, Warren’s Bakery, Childcare and Education students, along with Huish staff, baked, decorated, and provided cakes. These were sold to the Huish community to raise as much money as possible to send Emily and her family to their destination.
Through sales at Huish alone, the students raised £454.75, with further events taking place at Richard Huish Trust Schools, Nerrols Primary School and North Town Primary School, throughout the week.
Reflecting on the efforts of her classmates Emily said “I’m so overwhelmed, everyone is so generous, and I would just love to thank everyone”.
Emily’s Teacher, Gemma Lyons, who coordinated the event added “A big thank you to everyone who has got involved to help raise funds for Emily.
“A special thanks to Warrens Bakery for supporting the event and to all our kind students and staff who have baked, sold, and purchased cakes for the event.
“A special shout out to our course team- Childcare and Education, for which Emily belongs. A fantastic group effort”.
To find out more on Emily’s story and donate to the justgiving page, please visit the GoFundMe page
