A CARING student who successfully battled cancer when he was in primary school was praised for raising more than £6,000 for charity.
Ben Lord, who is now 13 and in Year 8 at Haslingden High School, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when he was in Year 5 at Helmshore Primary School.
He said: “They removed a gland from my neck and found it was cancerous, but it had not spread so I didn’t need radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
“When I was better I decided to have a party to raise money for Ward 84 where I was treated at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.”
Benji’s Big Bash Party raised more than £1,000 and he has gone on to hold many more.
His next party is on August 14th at Haslingden Cricket Club, where Ben plays cricket.
At his school’s Citizen of the Year Awards, Ben was among 25 students and five members of staff to be honoured.
Paul Ford, from Jigsaw, presented Ben with a certificate and an iPad Nano for his fundraising efforts for the ward.
Ben, from Helmshore, said: “I am going to auction my prize off at the next party. We are also going to have a raffle and a bowl off where people will have three goes at hitting a wicket.”
Initially he was on four-month check ups, then six months and now he only has to return to the hospital once a year.
“I wanted to do something for them because of what they did for me,” he said. “My mum and dad are proud of everything I have done.”
Head of Personal, Social and Health and Education Kate Seig-Hogg organised the Citizen of the Year Awards.
She said: “This is the second year we have run it and we will be holding the event annually.
“It was an absolutely fantastic evening and it was really nice to reward those people who have made a difference.
“We opened the awards for nominations after Easter and this year we received 360, with some people being nominated by several people.
“We then put together a shortlist of five members of staff and 25 students or groups of students who has all been involved in the same activity.
“We had different people to present each of the awards and this year the students’ choice award went to Tim Clayton, a member of the site team who received more than 80 nominations.”
Other awards went to charity fund-raisers, school council members, students who helped an elderly man who collapsed and school group the Physics Geeks.