THE money raised in honour of a ‘fit as a fiddle’ teenager who passed away following a hard-fought battle with cancer has now topped the £100,000 mark.
Total charitable fundraising for childhood cancer-related causes in the name of Ben Pavitt now stands at £105,996.
A carol concert at Kimbridge Barn and thousands raised in lieu of Christmas cards has seen Ben's family reach the impressive fundraising total, a figure they had discussed with the caring 16-year-old before his untimely death in October 2021.
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It includes £75,002 for Ben Pavitt's Legacy of Love Fund with Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group, £19,198 raised mainly in 2021 for Teenage Cancer Trust, £6,439 for the Piam Brown Ward at Southampton General Hospital between April 2021 and April 2022 and £5,357 raised for Friends of PICU in 2020.
Ben's Dad Mike Pavitt, a partner at Southampton law firm Paris Smith, told the Daily Echo: "I am not often stumped for words, but it has been quite overwhelming.
"It was the greatest Christmas present we could have hoped for, but it is also - very significantly for us personally - the sum we discussed with Ben before he died we would have to raise before we could have a rest!
"As we head into a New Year, we now have a really sound platform to build upon.
"Our next fundraising target is to add another £25,000 to our total for Children’s Cancer & Leukaemia Group, which will make a huge difference in their work to develop new and improved treatments for children and young people diagnosed with cancer.
"This is also a great platform for us to achieve our twin aim of raising awareness that research for treatments aimed at the young has for too long been the poor relation in terms of where dedicated funding for cancer research is currently directed."
Mike, Ben's mum Suzie and sister Lauren are continuing the drive in 2023 with marathons, mountaineering, concerts and golf all set to feature among fundraising activities.
Ben, from Marchwood, was just 16 when a relapse of his acute T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoblastic lymphoma ended his life.
The former Noadswood School pupil excelled in his GCSEs and raised thousands for charity during 15 months of treatment.
Donate at specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/ben-pavitts-legacy-of-love-fund
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