BRADLEY Lowery’s mum has written an impassioned letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, asking him not to forget about children living with cancer.

Gemma Lowery, founder and chief executive of The Bradley Lowery Foundation, has reached out to the chancellor during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, in a bid to open up discussion about the future of funding for vital childhood cancer research and new treatments.

Gemma said: “Understandably, the Government’s time and energy has been focused on the pandemic recently – and every life lost to coronavirus is a tragedy.

"But none of the old diseases have gone away. Children are still dying from cancer and we mustn’t stop fighting it, whatever else we have to deal with along the way.”

The six-year-old of Blackhall Colliery lost his battle with stage four high risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer three years ago. His plight touched the lives of many people and he went on to be Sunderland AFC's mascot and "best mates" with his hero, striker Jermain Defoe.

Gemma began fundraising in 2013 in hopes of raising enough money to allow Bradley to receive treatment in the USA, which was not available in the UK.

The Bradley Lowery Foundation was established in memory of Bradley Lowery.

Since then, the Bradley Lowery Foundation has raised more than £3million for dozens of poorly children across the UK. It has established a dedicated support line for the families of children with cancer, donated over £200Ks to researching childhood cancers and campaigned for new drugs to be introduced in the UK.

Gemma said: “I will never give up the fight against childhood cancer and I will grasp every opportunity to eradicate this terrible disease.

“My letter to the chancellor is not a plea for immediate policy change or a request for funding, but to simply speak to him, one parent to another, to emphasise the importance of the government’s support in combating childhood cancer.

“We want to make it clear that we understand the significance of the impact that coronavirus has had on funding and various aspects of the health system, but we want to remind the government that other health problems have not gone away- and many hundreds of children are still fighting cancer.”