Sunderland school remembers staff and pupils who lost their lives to cancer

St Aidan's Catholic Acadmey head boy Nayan Nair and house captain Ben Marston handing over the cheque of £1,060 to Julie Henderson and Dorian Smith the Macmillan Cancer Support Centre at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

St Aidan's Catholic Academy, in Willowbank Road, raised £1,060 to support cancer patients at Sunderland Royal Hospital through an event in honour of lost loved ones.

The school, which raises money for charity each year, held a fundraising day based on the theme of movies, earlier in the summer.

It saw students pay tribute to those who have sadly died by creating a ‘walk of fame,’ where names of loved ones were written on stars and placed alongside candles.

St Aidan's Catholic Academy students during a balloon release in 2018 to honour student Kyle Alcock and teacher Sylvia Addison, who both lost their cancer fight.

Staff, students and friends, also came together to enjoy an evening of entertainment called ‘big night in at the movies.’

Those gathered watched a video made in memory staff and students who tragically lost their battle with cancer.

Among those remembered, was former student Kyle Alcock from South Hylton who died aged just 17 in 2018 following a three-year fight with a brain tumour.

Kyle was 14 when he was first diagnosed with a tumour after experiencing headaches, but he didn’t let it get him down.

The courageous teenager even achieved a B in English language in a GCSE exam he sat that year in the midst of treatment, a battling spirit which earned him a Young Achiever’s Award for Personal Achievement.

The school suffered yet more tragedy just weeks after Kyle’s passing, when support assistant Sylvia Addison, 48, a mum-of-two from Hollycarrside, died from lung cancer.

The fundraising event held in their honour, was organised by Donna Humble and Bernadette Foreman, who herself battled breast cancer seven years ago.

Gemma Hogg, assistant headteacher, said: “The event had a lovely atmosphere and was for such a good cause.

“Over six years of fundraising the event has now raised nearly £14,000 – a staggering amount.”

Head boy Nayan Nair and house captain Ben Marston have now handed over the cheque of £1,060 to Julie Henderson and Dorian Smith from the Macmillan Cancer Support Centre at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

The school is now looking forward to holding a Macmillan coffee morning on Friday, September 27.