CULDROSE AIR ENGINEERS GO THROUGH CLOSE SHAVE FOR CLIC SARGENT
Air Engineers from RNAS Culdrose and the engineering training school at HMS Sultan in Gosport have come together to show their support for a colleague by having their heads shaved. This is aid of the young people’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent.
Warrant Officer (WO) Matt Newman used to be the Deputy Engineering Training Officer at RNAS Culdrose. His 16 year old son Jack had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma. Matt now works in Gosport training junior engineers, but his ex-colleagues here at Culdrose wanted to show their support.
Petty Officer Air Engineering Technician (POAET) Phil Distin from the Air Engineering School at Culdrose was sad to hear that his old boss’s son was ill. After hearing about Matt shaving his head to raise money for this worthy cause, he and two of his colleagues wanted to show their support. Leading Air Engineering Technician (LAET) Andrew Kiltie and POAET Ross Armstrong also felt they wanted to raise money and awareness of the charity. Supervising and making good the shaving was Andy Perry from Andy’s Barbers in Helston, who gave his expertise free of charge.
POAET Phil Distin enjoyed working for WO Matt Newman. He said: “We were a great team with Matt as our Boss and I wanted to do my bit. I know what it is like, as a member of my family was also diagnosed with something similar. It is very sad when this happens to someone so young.”
Jack found out about his condition by chance, after seeking medical advice from his GP for a shoulder injury which had been picked up during a game of 5-a-side football. This has been a particularly challenging time for not only Jack, but for all of his family. Chemotherapy sessions have meant that Jack has had to drop out of his college studies and has lost some of his hair.
Throughout this time they have been receiving pastoral support from the Royal Navy and charities including CLIC Sargent, who immediately offered Jack a grant to put toward anything that would assist him during his treatment and subsequent recuperation.
WO Matt Newman said: “Thanks to an early prognosis Jack’s chances of making a full recovery are very good, but the help we’ve received from charities such as CLIC Sargent has been invaluable.”
“When we found out about Jack’s illness, he was very concerned about losing his hair and I promised him that if he was going to lose it then I would too. It’s great to have the support of those who work around me and especially my old colleagues at Culdrose.”
“Around 11 young people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer every day and I’d like all of them and their families to be able to receive the level of support that we have.”
CLIC Sargent Fundraising Engagement Manager Liz Blunt said: “We are so grateful to everyone from RNAS Culdrose and HMS Sultan for taking part in a head shave for CLIC Sargent.”
“It has been such a pleasure to meet Matt and his family and I am so impressed with their fantastic, enthusiastic fundraising.”
“In 2016/17, CLIC Sargent supported 7,200 young cancer patients and their families. It’s thanks to supporters like Matt, Phil, Ross and Andrew that we can do the work we do to fight tirelessly for children and young people with cancer, as we don’t receive any government funding.”
If you would like to make a donation towards Mike’s fundraising challenge please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jacknewmanfund