FAMILY of Otley boy Harry Buckle have joined a new campaign to raise awareness of childhood cancer.

Glow Gold September aims to get iconic buildings throughout the country lit up during September to raise the profile of childhood forms of the disease.

The group believes that increasing publicity about the conditions could result in improvements to everything from early diagnosis to treatment.

Its members are parents of children who have, or had, cancer, including Sarah Buckley, whose son Harry died of Neuroblastoma in April, 2014.

She said: “We need iconic buildings across Yorkshire to illuminate their external façade in gold for September from dusk until dawn.

"We want to improve the profile of childhood cancer in line with that of the more well-known adult cancers."

Ten children are diagnosed with cancer in the UK every day, and of those, a quarter won’t survive the treatment, while the vast majority will be left with lifelong side effects.

Mrs Buckley added: “Our aim is to ensure the colour gold becomes synonymous with childhood cancer and our awareness month, September.

"So far, we have Leeds Arena and Bradford City Hall, accompanied with the Mirror lake, and Otley Parish Church signed up to Glow Gold in September.

"And across the UK we have many more, such as Edinburgh Castle and Leeds Castle in Kent, but we need more iconic buildings to get involved.

"Please help us to get your place of work or favourite building to light up in September for children’s cancer awareness! If you don't have lights, then you could use gold balloons and have an awareness event. "

The group hopes that greater awareness will lead to childhood cancers being spotted and diagnosed earlier resulting in better, more targeted treatments and improved survival rates.

The initiative is being supported by a number of charities, including CLIC Sargent, Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group, and Children with Cancer and Leukaemia Advice and Support for Parents.

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