To celebrate his 40th birthday and his step-daughter Faye’s remission, Dave Jefferies pledged that he would grow his hair and beard for one whole year.

Normally clean shaven on head and face, this has been quite an achievement for Dave to say the least. On Saturday February 16th 2013 his golden locks will be chopped – all in the name of raising funds for a small cancer charity very close to his heart.

The Nicola Corry Support Foundation (NCSF) supported single-mum Faye Leach through her cancer journey.

Faye, mum to Marley (now 7) and Tyann (now 4) was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) soon after her 24th birthday. Diagnosed on a Friday after a simple check-up for a bad back, she was told she had to start a course of intensive chemotherapy on the Monday.

“My first thought was my boys. Who would look after them when I was in hospital?” said Faye. Relatively new to Bristol without any family locally, Faye felt at a loss to what to do. Whilst she knew she had to fight her disease for her beloved boys, she could not bear the thought of being parted from them with prolonged stays in hospital to receive treatment.

Instead she decided she would access treatment as an out-patient but did not know how she would do that with a two year old at home to care for. She tried to source support from the NHS, social services and other agencies but says she felt like she was banging her head against a brick wall. “There is nothing out there to support families in this situation; I could not believe it.”

Faye says that discovering NCSF was a life saver for her. “By funding Tyann’s nursery fees it enabled me to still be a mum whilst receiving chemo every day”. Having to receive intensive chemotherapy for five days a week for a year she says, “I just had to treat my treatment like a job; that was the only way I got through it. I would take Marley to school then Tyann to nursery before going to the hospital each day to receive my dose of chemo.”

Faye says that had she not found the support from NCSF she would probably not have had the treatment; “I refused to go in to hospital as an inpatient and leave my children.” Faye has now been in remission for a year although continues to receive monthly chemotherapy until June.

Tyann is now at school making her childcare arrangements a little more manageable. With no other support around for parents in these situations, Faye and her family now want to do all they can to support NCSF.