Celebrity boost for fundraising for Kettering boy Sebastian Nunney who has rare cancer

Efforts to raise £200,000 for a Kettering six-year-old living with a rare childhood cancer have been boosted after his story appeared in the Northants Telegraph.

Sebastian Nunney – dubbed Mr Marmite by medics – has already beaten the odds after coming through a series of gruelling treatments to stop the neuroblastoma from spreading.

His parents Gregg and Lindsay must raise the sum so they can have the money available immediately if his case is picked up by medical teams fighting the disease.

Staff and students at Latimer Arts College, the school where Gregg teaches, have rallied to support ‘Team Sebastian’ with end-of-term mufti fundraisers, and celebrities have tweeted links to his fundraising page.

He said: “It’s been great and it’s very humbling to know how generous and supportive everyone has been. We have been speaking this week to The Grace Children’s Foundation who are a New York based organisation who try to match children to the right medical treatment across the world.

"Sebastian’s case file is being presented to different paediatric oncology experts to see if there is someone willing explore whether their new treatment is the one for him. This where the fundraising is so important, because if we do end up in that position, the likelihood is that we will need to find the equivalent of $250,000.

"We need keep our fundraising efforts going strong, even when we have our bad days due to Sebastian’s illness.”

Since the family’s story was highlighted in this paper, the GoFundMe has risen by more than £1,000 a day – and now tops £40,800.

Sebastian has been undergoing more chemotherapy that has left him ‘tired and emotional’. Dad Gregg says little Sebastian is doing his best ‘to smile his way through things’- even attending a special ‘orange’ mufti day at Brambleside School in Kettering.

Comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar, who spent a week in Kettering last year have tweeted their support to the campaign.

Gregg said: “We know from his podcast that Josh is a dedicated parent and I think Sebastian’s story resonates even more with other parents. We saw Josh at the Edinburgh Festival in 2015 so to think that he is now supporting Sebastian and our cause is incredible really. Having his and Nish’s support is very special.”

Latimer Arts College used the last day of term to hold a non-uniform day and hold a staff versus students rounders match.

Kathryn Murphy, principal, said: “So far we have raised almost £2,500 with a Summer Showcase planned for next Thursday (July 27), initiated by the Year 10 students and more events planned for the autumn term. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity, ingenuity and compassion of the Latimer community, students, parents and staff.”

Sebastian’s school has invited students to do ‘30k in 30 Days for Sebastian’ and a special fundraising evening has been organised at the Serbian Church in Corby on August 12.

Gregg said: “We are happy for anyone to put on any kind of event – and we will promote it via the Instagram and Facebook pages. If anyone has done something interesting to raise money for Sebastian then please write a note when you donate to the GoFundMe so we know what you have done.”

He added: “We really do appreciate everything that everyone has done so far. The students at Latimer have been amazing and are giving up so much of their own time it’s incredible.

"We know Sebastian has a big fight ahead of him, but it’s empowering to know so many people are behind us.”

To join ‘Sebastian's Fight Against Neuroblastoma’ go to GoFundMe, Teamsebastian2017 on Instagram, Teamseb2017 on Twitter or on Facebook .

The Team Sebastian Showcase on Thursday, July 27 takes place at the Masque Theatre, Barton Seagrave at 6pm. For tickets please click here .