King’s Lynn based charity Red Wellies has said a big thank you to the National Citizen Service (NCS) for their fantastic fundraising efforts over the last few years. The Lisa Wiles Red Wellies Brain Tumour Support Fund (Red Wellies) is a small charity dedicated to raising funds for the ongoing research of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), the most deadly form of primary brain tumour. The charity was formed in 2012 in memory of Lisa Wiles, a 43 year old mother of three, cruelly taken from her adoring parents, children, siblings and nieces after an inspirational 14 month battle with GBM. Mervyn Wiles, Lisa’s father, runs the charity along with family and friends in his daughter’s memory. He has been working with the NCS team based at the College of West Anglia since 2013 and says the team have donated more than £2500, so far. This number continues to grow with more and more NCS charity work taking place every school holiday. Mr Wiles visited the college on Friday 4 November to express his gratitude to the team. He said: “The work that the NCS team does is absolutely marvellous. As well as fundraising, they have made an awareness video for the charity which can be found on YouTube and have given hours and hours to helping our cause.” The charity has been fundraising to help fund the opening of a new brain tumour research laboratory at Addenbrookes Hospital, set to open on Friday 11 November. NCS community officer Amber Doy said the students really value what Red Wellies does. She said: “Students organise these fundraisers themselves and are very passionate about doing so, which is what makes this so special. Mervyn has attended every NCS graduation since getting involved with the college and it’s clear that the students really value what Red Wellies is doing.” The CWA division have so far helped numerous local and national charities, rejuvenated communal areas in West Norfolk and volunteered their time at many local events. Mentor Alison Cromarty graduated from her NCS programme last year. She returned this year as a mentor and has been heavily involved with social action projects. She said: “Through NCS I discovered that I have a real passion for charity work and would encourage young people in the area to get involved. It’s really rewarding and great fun too.” Find out more about NCS at the College of West Anglia by visiting cwa.ac.uk/NCS NCS is a voluntary personal and social development programme for 15 to 17-year olds in England. It features a week of team-building activities on a residential stay, followed by a social action project which sees every participant undertake 30 hours of voluntary work in their local community.   Photo: l to r: Alison Cromarty, Mervyn Wiles, Callum Carpenter. Front: Amber Doy