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Teddy20 is a charity based in Blandford Forum which provides emotional and financial support to children and young people suffering and undergoing treatment for cancer. In 2009 cricket lover and local businessman Owen Newton wanted to raise awareness of the childhood cancer his youngest son was suffering from. Not just awareness - he wanted to raise money to give something back to the organisations that had helped his son Ted and the whole family. With a history as a cricket coach he decided to call upon the cricketing community of Blandford to join in a 20-20 cricket match, to raise muchneeded money for CLIC Sargent (a charity that supports children living with cancer), Kingfisher Ward (Dorchester), Piam Brown Ward (Southampton) and Bone Cancer Research. Owen and his family were overwhelmed when the event raised £10,000 - and even more surprised when people began 64
enquiring if Teddy20 was to become an annual event. From then Teddy20 has grown bigger and better, raising more money from organising other events such as balls, challenges and music festivals. The pandemic for the families with kids on chemotherapy COVID-19 saw us all slowing down and staying home. Doing our bit to stay safe. Imagine, then, having a child on chemotherapy whose immune system is completely compromised? “When our Son, Ted, was going through treatment it was tough on the rest of the family too.” shared Teddy20 founder Owen “We couldn’t welcome people into our home without prior arrangement after asking the
seemingly-normal (to us) ‘do you have a cough, cold, sore throat?’. Throw a pandemic on top and I can only imagine the heightened anxiety for these families.” More work than ever Childhood cancer didn’t go away during the pandemic. Behind the scenes Teddy20 were busy supporting families. They sent out more grants than ever to ease financial worry - sadly there were funeral grants too. Ted’s Shack (the charity’s respite holiday home) opened later than normal in June and although having a much quieter season than usual were still able to provide numerous free holidays to families who badly needed a break from the hospital regime. Several families booked but had to cancel due to illness - the Always free - subscribe