Great Harwood teenager helps raise £12,000 in brother's memory (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Great Harwood teenager helps raise £12,000 in brother's memory

11:30pm Tuesday 10th February 2009 in Search By Nafeesa Shan, Reporter

A TEENAGER helped raise £12,000 in one night in memory of his brother who died from cancer.

Sam Cannings brother, Ben, died when he was just 15-year-old following a battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma, also known as Hodgkin's disease.

During a charity ball organised in Ben’s honour Sam, of Mercer Drive, Great Harwood, spoke about the effects of losing his brother on July 17, 1999.

The 18-year-old gave a poignant speech which encouraged more than 300 guests to put their hands in their pockets and donate to Cancer Research UK.

He said: “Losing my brother to cancer has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to live with.

“He was more than a brother, he was my friend and never a days goes by when I don’t think about him and miss him.”

Joined by the runner-up of hit BBC show The Apprentice, Claire Young, the guests were treated a showing of hit film Mamma Mia before ABBA renditions from tribute band Mamma Mia and an auction last month.

Sam’s mum Yvonne, 49, said: “It was a very emotional night as we all had very heartfelt reminders of what the evening was all about. It can be easy to forget the devastation that cancer causes as life carries on around you.

“But when you’re the family who has been personally affected by cancer, it is important to attend and support events like this because they help people to unite, feel strong and ensure that less people are lost from and more people recover from cancer.”

Karen Weaving, owner of Rendevous Hotel in Skipton and a founder of charity fundraisers Ribble Valley and White Rose Ladies, which helped organise the event with the Cannings, added: “We stipulate that the funds raised by the Ribble Valley and White Rose Ladies goes towards children’s cancer funds in Cancer Research UK.”