Melanoma charity paying tribute to local man who passed away at just 20 years old with special event

Tom Linton was diagnosed with Melanoma in January 2020 and passed away in May the same year after battling with the illness, aged 20.

His death left his friends, family and his local Chester Le-Street community devastated.

But since his passing, Tom’s family have been working closely with local charity Melanoma Me, formerly based in Washington before moving to Birtley.

Together with his family, Melanoma Me have arranged a fundraiser event, ‘Tom’s Fest’, in Tom’s memory, to pay tribute to his life and raise awareness of melanoma.

Founder of Melanoma Me, Kerry Prudhoe, said: “We met Tom's family shortly after he passed away and we have been supporting them ever since. We wanted to do a festival type of event as we felt that this would be a great platform to raise awareness of the disease with a younger demographic, which was Tom's wish and hopefully we can fulfil his legacy.”

When Tom was diagnosed in 2020, he decided he wanted to raise money for charities who support people going through the same struggles as him and help make younger people more aware of the dangers of melanoma.

After his passing, Tom’s best friend Bailey Macdonald picked up the baton left by Tom and went on to raise over £2000 for local and national charities.

Tom’s Fest will be held on May 28 at Park View School, in Chester Le-Street, where Tom attended, and will feature bands, tribute acts, food stalls and more to be announced.

Melanoma Me provides support for sufferers of Melanoma, and has been supporting Tom’s family over the last two years.

Since the charity was set up, it has since helped identify at least 49 cases of previously undiagnosed Melanoma with life saving training.

Planning for the event has been going on for several months and it is hoped that it will allow more young people to become more aware of melanoma and other cancers.

Tickets for Tom’s Fest will cost £20 and are available at https://melanoma-me.org.uk/toms-fest

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