Fifteen young cancer patients and their families swapped the wards of the Great North Children's Hospital for the putting green as part of a special charity golf day in Gosforth.
Families such as the Bannisters - Adam, seven, is undergoing treatment after developing a kidney tumour - and the Hartleys - Lilly, 13, has an inoperable brain tumour - took to the greens at City of Newcastle Golf Club in Newcastle. The club's ladies' captain Louise Lewis organised the event in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
Adam and Lilly are just two of the many children supported by the foundation's Gareth Williams, who works running a support service for paediatric oncology patients at the GNCH. Gareth works for the Newcastle United Foundation in a role funded by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation itself.
At the event, fifteen young patients and their siblings were treated to a morning of coaching before taking part in a "nearest the pin" challenge. Adam Bannister, seven, loved playing with younger brother Logan on the Gosforth course. Mum and dad Graham and Sarah explained how much of a difference Gareth had made to both boys. Adam was diagnosed with kidney cancer on his seventh birthday earlier this year.
Graham said: "He's amazing, he's been incredible When you get put into hospital, they tell you all sorts of things to keep you occupied and kept mentioning Gareth. He's done so much for Adam - from getting him out of bed to just play FIFA to getting him doing all different sports."
Sarah added: "Adam's always so excited to to see him. Gareth's taken him on a private tour of Newcastle United, he was able to take the family - with all their cousins too - to a match too. He gives all of the families such support."
Lilly and Sonny Hartley were also among the youngsters enjoying their time on the golf course. The Chester-le-Street family have been living with Lilly's cancer since she was aged just three. She's now 13 and her brain tumour is inoperable. Dad David Hartley is a golf pro himself, and offers Wednesday night sessions to some of the kids undergoing cancer treatment.
He told ChronicleLive : "This sort of event is unbelievable.. It's things that get them all together and make them feel less isolated. It gets them away from the clinical hospital setting they see so much."
As for Lilly, he added: "She's okay. The tumour is of course inoperable. She's losing the sight in her eye but she does just love to be part of the group!"
Gareth explained further about what his job entails: "My role started out as bedside education. It's was about keeping their brains active and keep their spirits up while they were undergoing treatment. The job has morphed into helping to keep them physically active too. We use sports and games from archery to darts or even curling or indoor golf to keep the children active.
"It's making sure we can take their minds off what they're going through - and knowing we can make a difference when they are going through the hardest times of their lives."
The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation is a fund part of the Newcastle Hospitals Charity - since it was founded in 2008 it has raised over £16m to find more effective ways to detect and treat cancer. It funds cutting-edge research along with projects such as Gareth's which make a real difference to cancer patients in the North East.
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