Ronnie Corbett, Martin Johnson and Gabby Logan are among the celebrities lining up to back a £2million charity appeal in memory of a brave young boy called George Yeomans who died from the devastating childhood cancer, neuroblastoma. “George’s Appeal” was launched on Sunday (February 1st 2009) by the children’s charity Sparks with a Radio 4 broadcast by one of the charity’s leading Ambassadors Ronnie Corbett. Sparks, which is at the forefront of neuroblastoma research, wants to raise at least £2million to combat the devastating and relatively little-known child-only cancer that ranks among the 3 biggest cancer killers of children and the biggest among babies under a year old. In his radio appeal comedy legend Ronnie Corbett—who frankly reveals he and his wife Ann lost a baby son at just 10 days old to heart failure---says: “We didn’t suffer the months and years of medical ups and downs Yeomans family went through, but I can empathise with the devastation that comes with losing a child. “I’m proud to be helping spearhead Sparks effort to raise £2million to step up the fight to beat this terrible childhood cancer which is much less well-known than leukaemia but kills almost as many children and is the biggest cancer killer of young babies.” In the broadcast Ronnie recounts how George and his parents Martin and Helena, from Hertfordshire, teamed up with Sparks to help raise funds for neuroblastoma research. He also recalled the poignant message the Yeomans put on the website they created in their son’s memory: “We miss him every minute of every day. Our lives are so empty without him. George has missed out on so much of his childhood, being a teenager, dating his first girl and growing into a man’. Martin and Helena have joined the special ‘George’s Appeal’ committee set up by Sparks with the aim of hitting that £2million target in memory of George who died last year aged 9. England rugby boss Martin Johnson, who met and befriended George during his Sparks presidency is another member of the committee. He said: “George was such a fighter, he had tremendous spirit and a selfless determination to help raise money and awareness about neuroblastoma to help save other kids.” Sparks current president Gabby Logan admits she was moved to tears when she presented a posthumous ‘Child of Courage Award’ to George’s parents at the charity’s annual Tribute Gala. “Hearing the moving testament of George’s dad Martin as treasured photos of George’s battle with neuroblastoma played out on the big screen was both heartbreaking and inspirational”, says Gabby. “It’s tragic that neuroblastoma is so little known and massively underfunded in research terms compared to leukaemia. Yet it is responsible for killing almost as many children under 5 and is much harder to treat with a far higher percentage of fatalities. “Sparks has already invested well over £1million into funding cutting edge neuroblastoma research but a lot more is needed if we are to really beat this cruel child killer and achieve the kind of survival levels we now see among children with leukaemia.” George’s mum Helena—who at one stage desperately flew him to New York for drug treatments not available in the UK—says: “I’m deeply grateful to Sparks and the charity’s famous Ambassadors for launching George’s Appeal. We feel we owe it to George to continue the fundraising fight and help Sparks doctors and researchers make the breakthroughs that will spare other families the anguish we’ve been through.” Ronnie’s appeal message will air on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 1st Feb and repeated Thursday 5th Feb at 3.27pm. FACTS ABOUT NEUROBLASTOMA : *About 100 UK children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Unfortunately in 70% of cases it has already spread by the time of diagnosis. *The average age at diagnosis is just 17months and neuroblastoma is the leading single cause of cancer deaths among babies and children under 4. *It is a particularly aggressive and unpredictable form of childhood cancer and less than 50% of cases can be cured even with the most intensive chemotherapy. * Tumours originate from the sympathetic nervous system, running from the neck to the tail of the spine-- but neuroblastoma is a cancer that often spreads with incredible speed to other vital organs. FOR MORE INFORMATIONM/INTERVIEW REQUESTS ON GEORGE’S APPEAL, CONTACT or visit www.sparks.org.uk