Community concert to raise money for girls' brain tumour treatments

TICKETS have gone on sale for a fundraising concert in aid of two little girls who are both battling brain tumours.

The gig on 4th October at New Milton Memorial Centre is organised by the Rose family, with Charlie and Alan, lead singer and guitarist respectively of folk rock band State of Undress, performing.

Their son Josh, the drummer with rock band Saints of Sin, will also be on stage alongside his brother, country music artist Ben Caleb Rose.

The family have come together to perform in aid of one-year-old Isabelle Revill from Christchurch, and Lexie Gray-Small (4) from Marchwood, who were both recently diagnosed with brain tumours.

As previously reported in the A&T, Isabelle’s family are trying to raise £250,000 for private proton beam therapy, as they do not know if it will be available to her on the NHS.

Parents Lee and Jemma were recently given the devastating news that Isabelle, who had endured months of unexplained illness, had a rare form of cancer known as supratentorial anaplastic ependymoma.

Although a lengthy operation successfully removed the 11cm tumour covering one third of Isabelle’s brain, the cancer which caused the tumour remains. She is also currently undergoing a 14-month cycle of chemotherapy to try to halt the disease.

Lexie’s family were given the terrible news that she had a brain tumour last September.

After suffering from what the family initially thought was a stomach bug, Lexie was taken to hospital due to a low blood-sugar count, which was spotted by a first responder who visited their home after they called the non-emergency medical hotline, 111.

Although blood and urine tests came back clear, a CT scan the next day revealed Lexie had an excess build-up of fluid, causing pressure on the brain, as a result of the tumour.

She underwent five hours of life-saving surgery, but because of the position of the tumour, it cannot be removed. Lexie is also undergoing chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, which has severely affected her eyesight.

Charlie, who has set up a fundraising page for Lexie to help pay towards treatment and specialist care, told the A&T: “We have known Lexie’s grandparents, Angela and Tony, and her mum Athena for years.

“We first met them when Athena was not more than a little girl herself and they were in the audience at The Beggar’s Fair – one of State of Undress’s first ever festival gigs. Athena even brought Lexie along to one of our gigs when she was just a few weeks old.”

Charlie added: “Isabelle is the granddaughter of our friend and next-door neighbour Trish, who has put up with all our rehearsing for years.”

A fundraising gig had been planned for Lexie in January, but Charlie herself was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas, so was not well enough to perform.

She said: “We were all still celebrating the fantastic news of my recovery when we all found out about Isabelle. So we decided to make the rescheduled gig in support of both little girls.

"It's definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions this past 12 months.”

The event is one of the few local performances Saints of Sin will be doing this autumn as they will soon be going on a UK tour to promote their new album, which was released last month.

Ben Caleb Rose also has a new single, Take Me Back, being released today (Friday). Both Saints of Sin’s new self-titled album and Ben’s new single can both be downloaded and streamed from all major platforms.