LOCAL families will be holding a concert at The Minster Church in Warminster to kick off a £70,000 fundraising appeal for 2-year-old Alexander Vinson of Dilton Marsh.
Alexander is undergoing treatment for a rare brain tumour, and friends and family now want to raise money for him to have a potentially more effective treatment not available on the NHS.
At 10am on Friday 30th October during half term, the Minster Church will be opening its doors to families with young children (0-8 years) for an interactive sing-a-long.
Members of the Warminster Philharmonic Orchestra will also be strumming, plucking, blowing and beating their way through favourites including Frozen’s ‘Let It Go’, The Sailor’s Hornpipe and London’s Burning.
Amanda Williams, founder of the orchestra said, “Recently, we have reported about local two year-old Alexander Vinson and his battle with rare brain cancer. Alexander is a keen Musical Monster and his Mum, Raluca, is lead oboist in the orchestra. Therefore, this event is the perfect opportunity to fundraise for his cause.
“Alexander has undergone two very lengthy brain surgeries to remove approximately 80% of the tumour and is now undergoing chemotherapy. He is currently in the middle of his third treatment of nine rounds of chemo before starting radiation therapy.
“Sadly, due to the rarity of his cancer type (AT/RT) the NHS have refused to fund the much safer and more direct proton beam laser treatment which has had very successful results in America, leaving the family with a bill of over £70,000 to fund his treatment within Europe.
“Should Alexander undergo the standard NHS treatment of radiation he would have to be sedated every day for 6 weeks, apart from the weekends, to receive the less accurate blast of radiation, adding to the concern of damaging healthy parts of his brain.
“This fun and noisy concert is a fundraiser towards this huge bill and to help raise awareness of Alexander’s case.
“It’ll be great to introduce the children to some orchestral instruments in a fun environment without the parental stresses of having to be silent and to sit stock still! Last August we ran a similar event and welcomed over 70 families, it was such fun!”
Tickets are £5 per child, free for adults, with refreshments, facepainting and toys available to purchase afterwards. There is also a fundraising page for Alexander at www.fundrazr.com/campaigns/213RF3
