With September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we shine a light on a Hamlet superfan.

No one ever thinks their child will get cancer, but every year in the UK around 1,900 children under the age of 15 will be diagnosed. That’s about one in every 450 children. The five year survival rate for these children is around 80%. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM) which aims to generate awareness and support for children suffering from cancer.Getting a childhood cancer diagnosis affects everyone in a family. One day things are fine, the next life forever changes. A family's new normal is full of unknowns and uncertainties.

This month Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is proud to once again be partnering with The Children & Young People’s Cancer’s Association (CCLG) to help raise awareness of childhood cancer. The impact childhood cancer can have on a family is something we are all too aware of at our club. In December 2024 Hamlet sadly lost one of its most passionate and committed young supporters...

HELENA'S STORY

Helena McLean regularly attended football both here at Champion Hill and travelling to away matches alongside dad Jimmy, brother Alex and Merlin - the family dog. However, Helena was diagnosed with a rare solid tumour in January 2021 when she was just 10-years old. She had been a normal happy and healthy child who enjoyed playing netball, football and tennis, as well as swimming, skateboarding and being with her friends.

During her hospital stays, Helena stayed active. She played pool and hula hooped while hooked up to the chemo pump, attended school lessons online, played her guitar and – despite losing her hair three times – stayed positive throughout. Being in hospital so much, missing school and friends and facing harsh treatments designed for adults was not easy. Yet Helena’s willingness to prove people wrong and live as ‘normal’ a life as possible was inspirational. She made sure that education was a priority with getting back to school top of her list. She also continued to support the teams with passion and pride and had a particular soft spot for Hamlet's Women’s team. Many will remember her dancing during the promotion celebrations in May 2024. Sadly, Helena was one of the unlucky ones. At the age of 14, she died in December 2024. The signs and symptoms of childhood cancer can be difficult to spot. Please visit the CCLG website and look at their Child Cancer Smart information (cclg.org.uk/childcancersmart) to understand what the red flags are. The most well-known type is leukaemia, but there are many other types that affect children.

CCLG, alongside other organisations, supported Helena and her family throughout her treatment and in the months that followed her passing. Since then, Helena’s family have continued to follow Hamlet's sides home and away, whilst Jimmy recently became a member of the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters’ Trust Board. The family have also set up the Team McLean fundraising page to raise funds for CCLG. Even if you haven't been directly affected by childhood cancer, please help them to raise awareness. Our children need more funding, kinder treatments and more awareness for childhood cancer. That can only be done with your help. So please use the QR Codes below to learn more about the valuable work that CCLG do, read more about Helena's Story and to donate to the Team McLean fund. 100% of funds raised will go into research for relapsed and refractory childhood cancer, with a focus on solid tumours.

QR CODES

Team McLean: https://specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/team-mclean/

CCLG: https://www.cclg.org.uk/childcancersmart