Seven years ago, when Biz Logan’s two-year-old son Bruce developed leukaemia, a charity called Tayside Children with Cancer and Leukaemia (TCCL) helped make the experience more bearable – not just for Bruce but for the whole family.
“Bruce underwent very long, protracted treatment and TCCL were a fantastic support,” recalls Biz, from the Fife village of Dairsie.
Now 10, Bruce is thankfully fit and healthy but Biz wanted to give something back to the charity that helped them in their hour of need.
She’s a member of the TCCL committee and secretary and manager of TCCL Lodge – a holiday house in a quiet residential part of St Andrews, available free of charge to families from across Scotland who have children with cancer or leukaemia.
TCCL fundraised over a four-year period from 2011 to buy and refurbish the Lodge, which has now been up and successfully running for a year.
“We’ve welcomed 27 families since we opened at the end of October last year and have made a lot of people very happy,” smiles Biz.
“The whole point of TCCL Lodge is to support families and give them an opportunity to get away for a week’s holiday but still be close to home and hospital if necessary.
“A cancer diagnosis affects the whole family and TCCL offers them a chance to take a break from all the stresses and strains – the charity looks at the whole family’s needs.”
Biz hopes that over the coming year, word will spread about TCCL Lodge and it will be busy 52 weeks a year.
“It would be great to build on the foundations of the past 12 months’ achievements,” she says.
“If Courier readers would like to donate or fund raise, please do get in touch through the website. Community support, particularly in St Andrews, has been just amazing – we were blown away.”
Dr Rosalie Wilkie, chairman of TCCL Lodge, adds: “It is important that people know about TCCL and TCCL Lodge so that families who could benefit from a support or a holiday can do so. So tell your friends and families about it even if they live in other areas of the country.”
Did you know…?
Leukaemia is a cancer which starts in blood-forming tissue, usually the bone marrow. It leads to the over-production of abnormal white blood cells, the part of the immune system which defends the body against infection.
In most cases of leukaemia there is no obvious cause. It can’t be caught from someone else and isn’t passed on from a parent to a child.
Leukaemias are generally more common in males.
Leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer.
Every day around 11 young people in the UK are diagnosed with a type of cancer.
Despite improving survival rates, cancer is the leading cause of death in children, teenagers and young adults.
Many children’s cancers are biologically very different from adult cancers, so treatments and clinical trials need a different approach.
Cancer Research UK was involved in a trial that led to a dramatic improvement in survival for a type of children’s liver cancer called hepatoblastoma. Now 8 out of 10 children survive, compared to 2 out of 10 children in the 1970s.
