16 July 2002

LINED UP TO SEND BROOKE TO USA

YOUNG cancer sufferer Brooke Brown is a step closer to swimming with the dolphins in Disneyworld, USA, after the latest in a series of fundraising efforts.

Pupils and staff at Boldon School and regulars at Boldon Community Centre have bolstered an appeal fund for six-year-old Brooke to the tune of £600.
Brooke and her parents Gail and Marc are planning a family holiday to the resort in Florida next March but need about £5,000 to make the trip.
In the latest in a series of charity efforts, members of the community centre staged raffles, played bingo and took part in a fundraising line dancing session to bolster the appeal fund.
On Sunday the fundraising efforts continue when 30 of Brooke's family and friends take part in a bag-packing effort at Asda supermarket in Boldon Colliery.
Brooke's grandmother Maureen Young revealed that the appeal fund had now reached £2,200.
She said: "Everyone has been so kind. Brooke is to undergo her last stage of her intensive chemotherapy next month and we have been told that she will be well enough to travel to the USA in March next year.
"We need between £4,000 and £5,000 to make the trip but we're confident we can make it because the fundraising is going very well."
Meanwhile, Brooke, of North Road, Boldon Colliery, has been well enough in recent weeks to return to her studies at West Boldon Junior School.
Anyone with any further fundraising ideas should call Maureen Young on 537 3379.