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LAURIE

Laurie Engel was a smart, funny, charming, sparky, sporty boy. Until he was 11 he never had a more serious ailment than athlete's foot.

He lived on a farm in Herefordshire with his parents, Matthew and Hilary, and little sister Vika.

Laurie wanted to win Wimbledon or, failing that, be a sports writer like his dad. Almost anything seemed possible – except what did happen. He was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. Despite 17 months of intensive treatment, he died in September 2005, aged 13.

Laurie's friends often speak of his kindness. He said he wanted to make a difference. His family set up the Laurie Engel Fund to make sure that he would.


THE LAURIE ENGEL FUND

Laurie was treated at the Birmingham Children's Hospital, the childhood cancer centre for much of England. The Engel family found the medical care there world-class, but the facilities and surroundings dismal. The hospital staff are also desperate to improve things.

The Fund is working with Teenage Cancer Trust and the hospital to ensure that future patients have better conditions than Laurie did.  Building work is about to start on an entirely new ward for teenagers, which has been designed in consultation with patients, parents, TCT and hospital staff.  It will be completed in the spring of 2009.  Laurie's fund now stands at well over £750,000, but the ward will cost more than £2 million altogether.

The new ward at Birmingham Childrens Hospital will brighten the lives of many sick teenagers in years to come, and the Engels think Laurie would be very proud.


TEENAGE CANCER TRUST

Each day in the UK six teenagers will be diagnosed with cancer – that is over 2,200 diagnoses a year. Fewer than half of them will be treated on a Teenage Cancer Trust ward, where facilities have been specially designed to meet their needs. These units can improve survival rates. The TCT aims to build enough units in NHS hospitals so that every teenager with cancer can have access to one. Each unit costs about £2 million to build.

 

 

AUTUMN 2008

The fund now stands at over £850,000.

At last work has actually started on the building of the new teenage ward at Birmingham Children's Hospital.  It is due to be completed in summer 2009.

There is to be a turf-cutting ceremony at the building site on November 26.

So far this year we have had a parachute jump, a football tournament, a Gala Comedy Evening, a marathon (in Paris), a kayak expedition, a Bank Holiday Ball, a World Music evening, an 18-county bike ride, a half-marathon (in Birmingham) and a Halloween Ball.  You can read all about these on the What's Happening pages.

WATCH OUR VIDEO NOW!

To view the short documentary made by David Raibin about Laurie and the work of the Fund, please click here.

Laurie's Well This is not about fund-raising, but simply to acknowledge the wonderful tribute which has been made to Laurie at his school, Fairfield.  High up above the school in an area of woodland, a well was discovered, which used to feed the original Victorian house.  The head teacher of the school, Chris Barker, decided to make it a place where staff and pupils can go when they need peace and quietness to talk, or think.  He and the head of science, Paul Brereton, built a stone well head and made seating out of oak planks; a tall oak obelisk donated by David Parker has been set up; and pupils have cleared undergrowth and planted many woodland flowers and bulbs round about, as well as decorating the area with all sorts of sculpture.  It is a beautiful place, with marvellous views across the Golden Valley.  We are very touched that Laurie is being remembered in this way. 


Ursula Russell and Tom Don, pupils at Fairfield High School, chatting at Laurie’s Well.  Photo by Tom Wilkes

Matty Groves by the Fair Field A CD for Laurie performed by a group of his friends from Fairfield High School. Click here for more info.

LAURIE: The Boy Who Lived A book that tells the story of Laurie’s life in his own and others’ words. Click here for more info.

EXTRACTS FROM THE RED NOTEBOOKS

Matthew's new book, published by Macmillan, is a collection of quirky quotes, jokes and facts jotted down over more than a quarter of a century. It has already won rave reviews from Bill Bryson, John Cleese, Sebastian Faulks, Maureen Lipman and Jeremy Paxman. To read Matthew’s Financial Times article about the book, click here.

All royalties will go to the fund.  It is on sale at all good bookshops, and some not-so-good ones.  We also have copies for sale ourselves.