A one-off charity auction was held in Sheffield city centre for a four-year-old boy seeking cancer treatment in New York.
The charity art auction, ‘Art for Jude’, raised over £7,000 last week for Jude Jameson, the four-year-old son of former Sheffield Wednesday, and current Matlock Town FC, goalkeeper Aaron Jameson.
Jude was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in July 2021.
Jude has now finished his frontline treatment with the NHS and is waiting to find out if he is eligible for a place on a clinical trial for a bivalent vaccine at the Memorial Sloan Cancer Centre in New York.
Mr Jameson said: “It’s really overwhelming to be honest, back in February, on a car journey to Manchester, my wife and I came up with the idea of starting the campaign. 236K later and we’re here”
The fundraising campaign reached its initial target of £236,000 on 5 October. Last night, the ‘Art For Jude’ auction raised an additional £7,545 worth of support for four-year old cancer patient Jude.
Family friend and co-organiser of the ‘Art for Jude’ fundraiser Katie Daniel said:
“Lucy and Aaron [Jude’s parents] were so relieved to hit the target, it’s been a real journey for them this last year”.
The money raised from the auction will be reserved for any further treatment Jude needs over the next five years. Any left over funding will be donated to ‘Solving Kids Cancer’ – the charity supporting the Jameson family’s fundraising.
Amongst the art showcased at the event last week, was a self-portrait by Jude himself, which sold for £200 at auction.
Sheffield based award-winning artist, Connor Rogers, donated a collection of four paintings. The Connor Rogers collection was the most valued, selling for a total of £1,400 at auction.
Mr Rogers said: “I have family members who have been affected by cancer, young and old. I will always use the platform I now have to do good and what’s a more important cause than giving a little boy a chance at life.”
Whilst many artists donated their works for auction, South Yorkshire’s art scene had a dominating presence at the event.
Mr Rogers continued: “I hope that our strong collective spirit and ability to act has used hope as a catalyst for good and I know that we are all genuinely wanting the best for Jude and his family.”
