University students help raise money to save Derbyshire’s children from life-threatening illness

University of Derby students are helping a Derbyshire schoolboy achieve his dream of repaying Sheffield Children’s Hospital for its life-saving treatment by holding a fundraising ball at their historic Devonshire Dome in Buxton.

Andrew Davies asked doctors at Sheffield Children’s Hospital how much his treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) had cost, and he vowed to raise the £150,000 they estimated so they could fund more research into childhood diseases and help redevelop the hospital wards.

Andrew, from Chesterfield, was diagnosed with AML at the age of 13 in 2012, and is now doing well after undergoing long sessions of chemotherapy and a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

And the 16-year-old Bakewell Lady Manners School pupil has already raised £51,000 with the help of family and friends towards the total.

Students at the University were so touched by Andrew’s story that they have organised a charity dinner on Friday October 30 2015, with a three-course meal, a charity auction and music by legendary local band Purple Cloud of Funk.

“Buxton is a great place to study for a career in the hospitality industry and we really want to use what we’ve learned here to help raise money for a great local charity. We hope we get lots of support and that our guests have a wonderful time,” said Rob Hall, a Joint Honours Hospitality and Culinary Arts undergraduate.

Sheffield Children’s Hospital actually treats more sick children than London’s Great Ormond Street, and is where North Derbyshire’s most poorly youngsters go.

“I am incredibly grateful to the amazing doctors, nurses and the specialist who helped me throughout my treatment, and I want to help the professor who treated me to do more research so that he can find better treatments for Leukaemia and Cancer. I am determined to make a difference,” said Andrew.

Money raised will go to the Children’s Hospital Charity, which supports Sheffield Children’s Hospital and funds research into preventing and curing childhood diseases; providing new facilities to extend the range of treatment provided; improving facilities at the Hospital and buying the latest high-tech specialist equipment.