This is our annual Team Charlotte walk. I would like to thank my wonderful colleagues at school for always being so willing to take part and support Charlotte's BAG. Your kindness, generosity and continued support mean more than you know.

Together, we continue to walk in Charlotte's memory and help fund vital brain tumour research.

Charlotte had lots in common with many teenage girls. She loved fashion, make-up, music and cats, and planned to go to college to study beauty therapy. She believed passionately in justice and fairness, and that kindness was an essential part of life. She was beautiful in every sense of the word, and loving and beloved.

Her world, and that of her family, fell apart in July 2013, when after suffering headaches for four months she was diagnosed with a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma with spinal diffusion. Over the 951 days the astrocytoma developed into a deadly grade 4 glioblastoma.

Despite this shattering diagnosis, Charlotte began to vlog via YouTube, talking to other young people about her experiences of life with cancer and living life to the full, despite her condition. Her voice has reached out to nearly 28 million people worldwide. Charlotte continued to vlog almost until the very end of her life, sharing conversations that were heartwarming, funny, emotional, poignant, and at times deeply sad. Today, Alex and Miles (Charlotte’s mother and Charlotte’s brother) continue to keep her channel alive as a lasting resource for young cancer patients and their families.

Below is how donations have been spent

Written by Barnaby - Consultant Clinical Scientist Charlotte's LAB

Support from Charlotte's BAG charity has enabled the laboratory at Kings College Hospital to purchase a high specification computer, which enables data to be processed in real time, as it is generated by the sequencer. This has already made a real difference to the speed at which we can diagnose brain tumour samples. Cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology combined with this computer power have reduced the time it takes to make a diagnosis from 21 days down to 2 hours. In some cases, the tumour diagnosis can be fed back to the surgeon whilst the patient is still under anaesthetic. This allows the surgeon to tailor surgery according to the tumour type, resulting in improved surgical outcomes for patients. Tumour DNA sequencing continues in all cases for 24 hours. This extended sequence is allowing the laboratory to collect information on other genetic regions which inform treatment and prognosis. All information is then available to the clinical teams ready for their first patient review meeting. When the clinical teams have all the information they can make better decisions for patient care. Now the computer specification has proven to be effective; the laboratory needs a second computer, to allow it to offer a clinical service. This will allow more samples to be sequenced at the same time and should provide contingency should any issues arise with the original sequencer and computer. The service at Kings College Hospital could also be offered to other hospitals in the region. By expanding testing capacity in this way, CBAG’s generosity will continue to have a direct impact on patients and families, supporting faster diagnoses, more efficient workflows, and improved care at a time when every moment matters. The impact of CBAG's investment has also been shared nationally and a programme is being compiled to ensure all surgical centres in England have access to this type of technology.

Every step for those affected by brain tumours.

Every mile in memory of Charlotte.

Every donation helps to fund research through Charlotte's BAG, where 100% of donations go directly to brain tumour research.