Young James makes loom bands to boost the Love Your Nodes Appeal

A caring seven-year-old boy has helped to raise £2,000 by making, collecting and then selling loom bands.

James Daly, who lives in Horringer, decided to create the bands to support two local charities … the Love Your Nodes Appeal and Sunday Suppers which supplies meals to the homeless.

The Ickworth Park Primary School pupil was prompted into action after his mother Lily was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and came under the care of the West Suffolk Hospital. He also wanted to support those in and around Bury St Edmunds who do not have a home.

Lily said: “Right from the beginning of my diagnosis he said he wanted to raise money for breast cancer and the homeless. We thought that if he made them and then sold them we could make £100 which would be quite sweet but he raised £2,000.

“It was all his idea. He decided he wanted to do something and we were delighted with his efforts. He just wanted to raise some money for local charities.”

Along with her husband Mark and younger son Benjamin, aged three, family and friends lent their support to James.

And the money raised was handed over to the My WiSH Charity, which supports the work of the hospital.

The Love Your Nodes Appeal was launched back in 2017 and raised £25,000 to purchase a Sentimag machine to treat patients with breast cancer. The machine aids the removal of the first lymph node by using a vial of magnetic beads which land in the first node making finding it accurate and quicker for the surgeon meaning less invasive treatment to the patient, quicker recover and less chance of life affecting complications. Each vial of beads costs £200.

Thirty-six-year-old Lily, who is still receiving treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer on Valentine’s Day last year, said the loom bands were sold from a variety of locations with support from the Bury Free Press, the LP Bar and the Six Bells pub in her village.

She added: “We were delighted to hand over the money to My WiSH and it is amazing how much support you can get from others and we were so surprised … it was really good.”

Sue Smith, head of fundraising at My WiSH said: “It was an absolute pleasure to meet James. Thinking to do something so incredible for others at such a young age is truly inspirational, he directly is going to improve the lives of many people by his fundraising. I was also lucky enough to receive one of his loom bands which I wear with pride.”