A MOTHER who co-founded a charity in memory of her son after he died from cancer has been given an NHS Hero Award.

Lynn Lucas set up the Chris Lucas Trust with her husband after son Christopher died in 2000 from the childhood cancer condition rhabdomyosarcoma.

She has since raised £2m and helped pay for full-time researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).

The Wallsend mum also helped organise what became the Great North Bike Ride, which attracts more than a thousand participants each year.

Thomas Bland, deputy director of development at the ICR, said: “[We are] proud of Lynn and grateful for all of her hard work.”