Boy faces cancelling cancer fundraiser as only 17 tickets sold

Toby Etheridge with his mum Alison. Picture: Steven Brown

Toby and his family had planned the event, with dinner cooked by former MasterChef champion Jamie Scott, in aid of CLIC Sargent, the children’s cancer charity.

But only 17 tickets have been sold and his mother, Alison Etheridge, has appealed for more people to attend the event so that it can go ahead.

Mrs Etheridge said that they need to attract another 80 guests to avoid having to cancel the event that her son has been working to organise.

“He will be devastated if we have to cancel,” she said. Toby was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in December 2014 and has another two years of chemotherapy ahead of him.

He returned to St Columba’s Primary School in Cupar, Fife, last September after several months absent.

He is currently off school with a bout of pneumonia.

Mrs Etheridge said: “He said from day one that he wanted to fundraise, because he wanted to give something back to the people who have helped him.”

Toby has a CLIC Sargent nurse and when he is in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh the charity also provides a play therapist.

To help the cause, Toby has embarked on a series of fundraisers, including dying his hair purple before shaving it off, while his father, Richie, is to cycle 300km along the coast of Brazil in September.

But Toby’s 1st Magical Ball, in Cupar’s Corn Exchange on 1 March, will be his biggest event to date.

The youngster, who has older siblings Jessica, 18, and Samuel, 15, has been heavily involved in organising the evening, choosing the colour theme and discussing the menu with Jamie.

Mrs Etheridge said: “People may be waiting until the last minute, but we have to let Jamie, CLIC Sargent and others involved know whether it can go ahead.”

Tickets are available through Toby’s Facebook page, Toby’s Magical Journey to be Cancer Free, the Brown Paper Tickets website and outlets in Cupar including the SNP office in Bonnygate.