Thanks a mi££ion shoppers!

ALL smiles . . . Kelsey Shyne-Slater with Sharron Swann, deputy store manager (left) and admin supervisor Gail Raeburn

Little Kelsey collects giant charity cheque
IT was a case of Christmas come early for Cancer Research UK, and Royton’s little Kelsey Shyne-Slater was chosen to pick up the gift.

The six-year-old collected a mammoth £1 million from supermarket giant Morrisons’ Chadderton store — cash raised by its shoppers and staff from across the nation.

And Kelsey, who was diagnosed with cancer when she was just a few months old, said a big thank-you to well-wishers who smashed the fundraising target four months early.

The plucky St Aidan and St Oswald’s pupil was chosen by Cancer Research UK to collect the proceeds of the “Raise a Smile” campaign from store manager Mark Pallister.

Morrisons staff voted Cancer Research as its charity of the year, which means it benefits from a 12-month fundraising campaign which began in April this year.

And with £1 million already under the belt, it looks set to become the company’s most successful charity of the year ever.

Kelsey was diagnosed with neuroblastoma —a cancer of the nerve cells, when she was only a few months old.

She spent six months being treated at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital before undergoing surgery to have a tumour removed in January, 2005.

Doctors feared the proximity of the tumour to Kelsey’s kidneys might mean she could lose one, but she amazed them by making a brilliant recovery.

The youngster was nominated as a Cancer Research UK Little Star in 2004, and two years ago was guest of honour at Oldham’s Race for Life 2007.

She has also starred in a television advert to promote the charity.

Kelsey’s mother, Melanie Slater, said: “It’s an honour to represent Cancer Research UK, and all cancer patients who have benefited from research, to receive this £1 million gift and say thank-you on their behalf to everyone at Morrisons.”

Staff pulled out all the stops in the campaign’s first eight months, raising money in hundreds of events.

Shoppers can still support the charity by buying special in-store productsdonations to collection buckets.