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The Henry Dancer Days Story

The Henry Dancer Days Story

Everyone is affected by cancer in some way, sadly.  I was too. 

Can you imagine your beautiful child being fine one day, having a limp the next then, after a visit to your GP, having him/her diagnosed with a cruel and aggressive cancer: commencing treatment within 48 hours? Within 3 months you face the amputation of his/her leg then, before a year is up, his/her death after suffering horrendous treatment and reactions to it.

I lost my only son, Henry Dancer, to Osteosarcoma when he was just 12 years old. It broke me. I set up our charity in his memory 2 years later as I felt that I had to help others in a similar position. Henry Dancer Days does this in 2 ways:

  1. Offering Hardship Support to those with the same condition as Henry (Primary Bone Cancer)

  2. Giving children some escape whilst under treatment. We do this through Storytelling at a child’s hospital bedside or whilst they are undergoing a procedure to distract them from their situation and help them to escape into a world of their own imagination. We also deliver pottery sessions helping children and parents/carers relax as they create personal masterpieces. 

To date, our tiny charity has achieved huge results: it has supported over 20,000 people though its work, including over 740 families with hardship grants. We have raised over £1 million so far.

We don’t receive any Government or Statutory funding and rely on donations as well as Trusts and Foundations. Can you help? There are 2 ways:

  1. Donating to us via our website http://henrydancerdays.co.uk

  2. Giving as a company – this can be as little as £15 per month and can be offset against tax. Please see p14 of the attached “The Whole Story” guide link.

I know that everyone is horribly stretched at present but imagine that you’re in the position of a parent: you have to give up work to care for your child and it costs an additional £730 per month to look after a young person with cancer (CRUK 2022). Bills don’t go away, and the cost-of-living crisis is hitting you harder than most.

Please help us to help them?

Thanks for reading and please see the links to our video below.