Tonight we’re calling on both the Yellow Army and Green Army to help us to boost Gulls fan Ellia’s amazing fundraising efforts!
Supporters attending United’s opening home pre-season friendly against Plymouth Argyle this evening (21/07/26 7.30pm KO) will have the opportunity to donate towards a very worthy cause.
Tuesday’s bucket collection at Plainmoor will be in support of ardent Torquay fan Ellia, who recently took part in a gruelling 15-mile trek across Dartmoor to raise valuable funds for OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity.
As if undertaking this mammoth challenge in the scorching temperatures recently hitting South Devon wasn’t hard enough, what makes our young supporter’s efforts even more remarkable is that Ellia herself was diagnosed with brain tumour twelve months ago.
Ellia has already proven to be a lucky charm for TUFC this year, having been a guest of the club for United’s Play-Off Semi-Final win over Dorking last May, and now, having already raised an astonishing total for her efforts, we’re hoping United and Argyle fans will join us in helping to boost Ellia’s fundraising drive even further, and enable OSCAR’s to continue their superb work for those who need it most.
Despite enduring weekly trips to hospital as part of her extensive course of treatment, inspirational Ellia, supported by her dad Dan Smith and the rest of the family, is determined to help others.
Not content with having already raising thousands of pounds for the Little Princess Trust – a charity that provides wigs to children having chemotherapy – Ellia then set about raising awareness and funds for OSCAR’s, a charity who have been helping to support her during the past year.
Since being diagnosed, OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity have assisted by sending booster boxes in the post and have also funded sessions of play therapy to help Ellia understand her emotions throughout this testing period.
With OSCAR’s presence beginning to extend to the South West of England, Ellia has committed to do all she can to raise money and help other children facing a similar diagnosis, and amazingly, she has already smashed through her original fundraising target.
Ellias’ online fundraising page has already received widespread support, with her initial target of £500 exceeded some time ago, and at the time of writing stands at a whopping £3,350!
With every single pound raised directly benefitting OSCAR’s and helping them to support children with brain tumours and their families, the fundraising efforts are continuing though, with OSCAR’s also pledging to raise awareness of signs and symptoms of this terrible disease, and also fund research into better and kinder treatments.
Ahead of the game, at half-time, and also at full-time, Ellia, her dad, and their fantastic team of bucket collectors will be making themselves visible around the ground, so if you’d like to make a donation, every single penny will help make a difference, and will be greatly appreciated!
On behalf of us all at Torquay United, we’d like to say well done Ellia… we can’t wait to welcome you back to Plainmoor again tonight!
About OSCAR’s
OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity was set up in memory of Oscar Hughes, a 9-year-old who died of a brain tumour in 2014. His journey was heartbreaking yet inspiring. OSCAR’s aims to provide support and care to children with brain tumours, raise awareness to help diagnosis and fund research into better treatments.
Further information regarding OSCAR’s fantastic work is available at www.oscarspbtc.org
