We all love seeing those images on our social media of cute kids dressed in all manner of bizarre costumes clutching their favourite book.
But this year World Book Day has prompted me to think of all of those children with cancer who may not be able to dress up and have fun with their school friends this year.
One of the things that cancer snatches away from our children is the fun stuff, the crazy times with peers that can never be repeated.
Those moments of pure joy that connect us to our school buddies, our teachers, the children we play with in the street. Children receiving cancer treatment miss out on so many of the moments that most families take for granted.
When you’re moaning about the cost and stress of ‘another’ school dress up day (and heaven knows we all do it!) please spare a thought for those parents desperately wishing that they were awake in the middle of the night wracking their brains for the best costume or project idea.
Sadly, our CCPA parents are probably up in the middle of the night for very different reasons. Their child may have spiked a temperature and they’re on a mad dash to hospital or the bleeping of the machines from the next hospital bed may be stopping them sleeping.
They’re already exhausted from all of the dark thoughts running around their head.
Those scary thoughts always come in the wee small hours when the world is quiet and seemingly every one else is asleep.
At CCPA we know all of this because we too have lived through the darkness and the absolute fear of the ‘what if’ and that is why we bring the joy back to our amazing families.
We cannot replace the missed dress-up days at school but we can provide fantastic days out, crafting and lunches. We can bring the laughter back and we can bring our families together in a safe space to talk about those dark times (or simply to moan about the stress of ‘another’ dress up day!).
When you support the Childhood Cancer Parents Alliance you enable us to do all of this and we are forever grateful to you all.
With thanks to all of our CCPA families who provided the beautiful images that accompany this article.
Rachael Olley
CEO of CCPA
