Cancer care for Albert Thompson
24th April, 11pm - SUCCESS: Albert has now been granted free NHS treatment!!! Thank you to all who donated and I am very pleased we don't have to pay for something which he was always entitled to for free anyway. I am in discussion with all relevant parties about what the best use of funds is, and I will confirm this with everyone as soon as possible. It will take some coordination, and liaising with lawyers to work out how Albert is able to access the fund, so please be patient. I will keep the fundraiser open for now as some people are still keen to donate even though they know it won't go towards treatment specifically.
From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
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Albert Thompson*, 63 years old, has lived in London for 44 years. He has prostate cancer. After major surgery, he arrived for his first radiotherapy session to be taken aside and told that unless he can prove he is legally entitled to live in the UK he will have to pay the full £54,000 for his treatment upfront.
For 3 decades, Albert has paid taxes to the British Government. He arrived from Jamaica as a teenager. He has no money and he needs our help.
Cancer doesn't wait.
**Please like, RT and share the campaign with your friends!** #ActionforAlbert #Windrush
There are lots of tweets to RT on my profile: https://twitter.com/quiline
I am asking every visitor to this fundraiser to contribute towards the £54,000 for Albert's treatment, and I would like us to raise this by Friday 13th April.
We shouldn't have to, but the Government has not responded despite weeks of pressure and this is now very urgent.
Three weeks ago I launched a petition to the Home Office for Albert which has so far raised over 280,000 signatures. Albert's case and this petition has had repeated media coverage. The issue was also bought up at PMQs, where Theresa May said she wasn't aware of it but that she would personally intervene; she later said that she wouldn't intervene and that this is a decision for Royal Marsden. However, Royal Marsden's hands are tied, because their decision is actually related to the Home Office needing to recognise Albert as a UK citizen.
If you haven't already, sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/home-office-give-albert-thompson-the-lifesaving-cancer-treatment-he-needs
We've given the government time to respond, and it has failed to adequately do so, despite the victim of their indecision suffering from a life-threatening and progressive disease. We shouldn't have to do this, but we must.
Having been a primary carer for loved ones who have had cancer, I know that it is expensive, frightening and depressing. People who do not have a lot of savings or support from elsewhere struggle massively financially, and Albert has been unable to work for some years now due to cancer so has nothing. Even with appropriate support, cancer is a lonely and terrifying journey. I can't imagine the despair that this man must be feeling right now.
This is part of a much wider issue, of people who originally came from Commonwealth countries now not being recognised as legal citizens - despite living in our country for many, many years and contributing in the same way we do. Let's stand up for their rights - and stand up to the increasingly harsh landscape that the Home Office is creating for innocent people that are relying on their country's support at the hardest times in their lives.
The minimum target for this fundraiser is £54k to pay for Albert's treatment, but if we raise more than this I will donate the extra money to Praxis, the charity that have been supporting Albert, who deal with hundreds of cases like this.
If Albert is granted treatment for free, then I will talk to Albert's case worker about how best to use the money. It may be that we can help him with living expenses to help him through the next while, and that the rest goes to Praxis who support many others like Albert. I will work closely with Praxis to agree this.
To those that donated to Praxis previously, here is a statement from them about how it has been used: http://www.praxis.org.uk/news-page-6.html (scroll down a little) and you will recieve an email update with more details shortly.
Read my article on the Huffington Post for more detail: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/albert-thompson_uk_5acb39eee4b09d0a1195847f/?__twitter_impression=true
*This name has been chosen to protect this man's identity
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From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Albert Thompson*, 63 years old, has lived in London for 44 years. He has prostate cancer. After major surgery, he arrived for his first radiotherapy session to be taken aside and told that unless he can prove he is legally entitled to live in the UK he will have to pay the full £54,000 for his treatment upfront.
For 3 decades, Albert has paid taxes to the British Government. He arrived from Jamaica as a teenager. He has no money and he needs our help.
Cancer doesn't wait.
**Please like, RT and share the campaign with your friends!** #ActionforAlbert #Windrush
There are lots of tweets to RT on my profile: https://twitter.com/quiline
I am asking every visitor to this fundraiser to contribute towards the £54,000 for Albert's treatment, and I would like us to raise this by Friday 13th April.
We shouldn't have to, but the Government has not responded despite weeks of pressure and this is now very urgent.
Three weeks ago I launched a petition to the Home Office for Albert which has so far raised over 280,000 signatures. Albert's case and this petition has had repeated media coverage. The issue was also bought up at PMQs, where Theresa May said she wasn't aware of it but that she would personally intervene; she later said that she wouldn't intervene and that this is a decision for Royal Marsden. However, Royal Marsden's hands are tied, because their decision is actually related to the Home Office needing to recognise Albert as a UK citizen.
If you haven't already, sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/home-office-give-albert-thompson-the-lifesaving-cancer-treatment-he-needs
We've given the government time to respond, and it has failed to adequately do so, despite the victim of their indecision suffering from a life-threatening and progressive disease. We shouldn't have to do this, but we must.
Having been a primary carer for loved ones who have had cancer, I know that it is expensive, frightening and depressing. People who do not have a lot of savings or support from elsewhere struggle massively financially, and Albert has been unable to work for some years now due to cancer so has nothing. Even with appropriate support, cancer is a lonely and terrifying journey. I can't imagine the despair that this man must be feeling right now.
This is part of a much wider issue, of people who originally came from Commonwealth countries now not being recognised as legal citizens - despite living in our country for many, many years and contributing in the same way we do. Let's stand up for their rights - and stand up to the increasingly harsh landscape that the Home Office is creating for innocent people that are relying on their country's support at the hardest times in their lives.
The minimum target for this fundraiser is £54k to pay for Albert's treatment, but if we raise more than this I will donate the extra money to Praxis, the charity that have been supporting Albert, who deal with hundreds of cases like this.
If Albert is granted treatment for free, then I will talk to Albert's case worker about how best to use the money. It may be that we can help him with living expenses to help him through the next while, and that the rest goes to Praxis who support many others like Albert. I will work closely with Praxis to agree this.
To those that donated to Praxis previously, here is a statement from them about how it has been used: http://www.praxis.org.uk/news-page-6.html (scroll down a little) and you will recieve an email update with more details shortly.
Read my article on the Huffington Post for more detail: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/albert-thompson_uk_5acb39eee4b09d0a1195847f/?__twitter_impression=true
*This name has been chosen to protect this man's identity
Dear all,
A quick update on how the funds raised through this fundraising campaign for Albert Thompson's cancer treatment will be used.
As mentioned in my previous update, the Government finally granted Sylvester Marshall the Indefinite Leave to Remain (and free NHS treatment) he was always entitled to after the huge amounts of pressure and media attention his case bought to the Home Office's hostile policies. As you'll know, a lot has happened since then in the political sphere and the issue continues to develop.
After liaising with Sylvester Marshall (Albert's real name) via his son Selwyn, we have agreed that £10,000 will go towards Praxis - the charity that supports Sylvester and many other migrants in similar, horrendous predicaments - and that the rest will go to Albert's son to be used as and where appropriate to support Albert in getting his life back together. As you know, he was made homeless, and will need ongoing support in many forms to support his health whilst he has treatment and beyond. I also think he probably needs a holiday! How the family wish to use the funds is at their own discretion but it is clear from our conversations that it will be used in accordance with how I feel people who donated will have wanted (also, I did ask for peoples' thoughts and the amounts given reflect the general consensus).
Thank you all again for supporting Sylvester. Our work sent a really strong message to the Home Office that the British public will not tolerate its hostile policies, and even though there is a lot still to be done on that agenda it was amazing to see how the public backing for Albert helped to bring the Windrush issue under the spotlight so that the Government was forced to act. A large number of people who were previously without hope after going through all manner of awful ordeals are seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
Please continue to support this issue in every way you can. It's clear that the Home Office has a lot of work to do to make its policies humane and fair, and the media will only report on the stories that people support. There are always so many issues vying for our attention, and it's natural to get media fatigue - but I hope you'll hold Sylvester's story close for a bit and keep using your voices to show that Britain does, indeed, have a heart.
Very best wishes
Jacqueline
A quick update on how the funds raised through this fundraising campaign for Albert Thompson's cancer treatment will be used.
As mentioned in my previous update, the Government finally granted Sylvester Marshall the Indefinite Leave to Remain (and free NHS treatment) he was always entitled to after the huge amounts of pressure and media attention his case bought to the Home Office's hostile policies. As you'll know, a lot has happened since then in the political sphere and the issue continues to develop.
After liaising with Sylvester Marshall (Albert's real name) via his son Selwyn, we have agreed that £10,000 will go towards Praxis - the charity that supports Sylvester and many other migrants in similar, horrendous predicaments - and that the rest will go to Albert's son to be used as and where appropriate to support Albert in getting his life back together. As you know, he was made homeless, and will need ongoing support in many forms to support his health whilst he has treatment and beyond. I also think he probably needs a holiday! How the family wish to use the funds is at their own discretion but it is clear from our conversations that it will be used in accordance with how I feel people who donated will have wanted (also, I did ask for peoples' thoughts and the amounts given reflect the general consensus).
Thank you all again for supporting Sylvester. Our work sent a really strong message to the Home Office that the British public will not tolerate its hostile policies, and even though there is a lot still to be done on that agenda it was amazing to see how the public backing for Albert helped to bring the Windrush issue under the spotlight so that the Government was forced to act. A large number of people who were previously without hope after going through all manner of awful ordeals are seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
Please continue to support this issue in every way you can. It's clear that the Home Office has a lot of work to do to make its policies humane and fair, and the media will only report on the stories that people support. There are always so many issues vying for our attention, and it's natural to get media fatigue - but I hope you'll hold Sylvester's story close for a bit and keep using your voices to show that Britain does, indeed, have a heart.
Very best wishes
Jacqueline
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