A crowd of over a hundred parents, staff and pupils gathered in the grounds of Stoke Lodge Primary School on Friday 29th June to witness the unveiling of a bench in memory of Bailey Cooper, a former pupil who sadly passed away last Christmas Eve following a brave 15-month battle with cancer.

Bailey, who was nine years old when he died, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2016. He endured four rounds of chemotherapy and steroid treatment at Bristol Children’s Hospital before being given the all-clear in February 2017 and returning to school. However, his cancer returned just a few months later and, despite the best efforts of his doctors, the disease was declared terminal at the end of August 2017.

Given just weeks to live, Bailey bravely fought on for long enough to meet his new baby sister Millie, born at the end of November.

The idea of installing a bench in Bailey’s memory was the brainchild of Roye Aguila, a parent of a pupil in Bailey’s class, who raised funds for the project by selling signed memorabilia and commissioned a wood carver to make the bench, which is decorated with the emblems of Bailey’s favourite superheroes.

More: Bench unveiled by Bristol Rovers captain Tom Lockyer »

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Pupils at Stoke Lodge Primary School have taken part in a special event to support the family of a pupil, eight year old Bailey Cooper, who recently underwent nearly four months of hospital treatment for a form of cancer.

Bailey was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in October last year. He endured four rounds of chemotherapy and steroid treatment at Bristol Children’s Hospital before being given the all-clear in February. He is currently in remission and has recently returned to school.

Roye Aguila, a parent of a pupil in Bailey’s class, approached PE teacher Pete Holbrook with the idea of raising funds to help the family. His suggestion was to allow the children to wear a “Let’s CAP Cancer” cap for the whole day in school in return for a donation. Over £900 was raised at the event which was held on 24th February and the money will be donated to the family. It is hoped this will become an annual event with money raised in future years going to a local hospital.

Roye says that the event would not have been possible without the support of sponsors Design Scaffolding, The Whitchurch and Flipout Bristol. Bristol Rugby, who work with the school on a regular basis, also sent along their mascot to support the event.

Bailey’s parents, Rachel Hollyman and Lee Cooper, told the Journal that they were overwhelmed at the support they have received from the local community and the school. Rachel had to give up her job at Caerleon Child Care (inside Jump at Patchway) and Lee had to cut his working hours when Bailey was diagnosed with the life-threatening condition so they could spend time with Bailey and his younger brother, Riley.

More: Friends and family organised fundraising events »

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A fitness club in Bradley Stoke has turned pink for the month of October in support of a national breast cancer awareness campaign.

Staff at Anytime Fitness, based at the Willow Brook Centre, have replaced their normal purple uniforms with pink ‘cancer awareness’ t-shirts.

Heather Williams, Manager at the Bradley Stoke club, said:

“Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. In real terms it means that you don’t have to go very far to meet someone who has been diagnosed with the condition. There isn’t a single member of the team at Anytime Fitness who hasn’t been touched by the disease in some way, so we really wanted to help raise awareness of this event and we felt that changing out of our customary trademark purple uniforms for new pink ones seemed like an perfect idea!”

“We will be holding various events in the club over the next few weeks, and will be asking our members to help us raise desperately needed funds for Breast Cancer Care. Members of the Public are welcome to pop into the club and see what we have going on, and we welcome any donations however small!”

Photo: Fitness Assistants Stephanie Bishop (left) and Chloe Giles launch Breast Cancer Awareness Month at Anytime Fitness.

More: Breast cancer facts and statistics. How you can help. »

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