Wee Oscar 4 Life bucket appeal nets over £31k

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The fact that the Wee Oscar 4 Life campaign inspired hundreds from the Celtic community to raise money for the treatment of Oscar Knox will surprise no one, but the stunning amount of money raised by the bucket collection outside Celtic Park on Saturday, £31,918.05, is breathtaking.

I know those who decided something had to be done to help Oscar have no interest in our congratulations or respect, but they have it nonetheless. Well done to all who helped on Saturday and to those behind the campaign. You are a credit to our community. Again.

The team released the following statement:

At last Saturday’s Celtic game against Dundee at Celtic Park over 200 volunteers collected money on behalf of the ‘Wee Oscar 4 Life’ campaign as part of the Oscar Knox Appeal.  Wee Oscar’s Green Bucket Army raised an astonishing £31,918.05 in just two hours between 13.00 pm and 3.00pm before the Scottish Premier League game.

This campaign was launched by supporters of Celtic Football Club (the Celtic family) to raise money for Oscar Knox, a four year old boy who has recently been diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma- a rare form of cancer which mainly affects children. All funds raised on the day through the bucket collection will go directly towards helping to fund immunotherapy treatment abroad for Wee Oscar to help him beat cancer for good.

On the day, the campaign team and family were also joined by four supporters of Rangers and one supporter of Hearts. Oscar’s dad Stephen flew over from Northern Ireland and he also brought along some of Oscar’s family. Also taking part were the partners of Celtic players, Lisa Hague (Partner of Kris Commons), Alana Roe (Girlfriend of Charlie Mulgrew) and Debbie Lawlor (Girlfriend of Tony Stokes). Lisa Hague has just been appointed Patron of the Wee Oscar 4 Life campaign and commented on the day: “It was fantastic to take part and get involved on Saturday. I was overwhelmed to be asked and amazed at the support offered by the fans. I jumped at the chance to be Patron, even though I am 7 months pregnant, because this charity really stood out to me, not only because of wee Oscar but the level of support from Celtic fans. I’m determined to do as much as I can to get wee Oscar the treatment that he so desperately needs”.

Oscar’s family are from Belfast and Stephen Knox commented: “We are totally blown away with what happened on Saturday, I flew over myself with a couple of friends and I am so pleased that I witnessed the generosity of the fans first hand. In particular I want to thank the entire Wee Oscar 4 Life team who led this campaign and made it happen. I would also like to thank each of the 200 strong bucket volunteers who are playing a huge part in helping to save our little boy’s life.”

Oscar is fighting stage 4 neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer which affects 1 in every 100,000 children. He is currently responding very well to treatment but unfortunately neuroblastoma has a very high relapse rate and so to give him the best chance of survival he needs immunotherapy. This helps to stimulate the immune system, so that if the neuroblastoma was to return, his own body can recognise and attack it. The treatment is not currently available to Oscar in the UK and so the family needs to take him abroad to get it. The treatment is likely to cost up to £250,000. Sadly Oscar was also born with Jacobsen Syndrome, an extremely rare chromosome disorder. There are little over 250 confirmed cases in the world, and as far as we are aware, Oscar is the only child in the world ever to have Jacobsen Syndrome and then be diagnosed with neuroblastoma. The odds of this are about TEN BILLION TO ONE.

Future planned events include:

Wee Oscar 4 Life Celtic Quiz Night
This will be held on Saturday 29th September in The Phoenix Bar (X Eastenders Bar) Gallowgate Glasgow from 19.00 pm onwards. Tickets cost £5 (over 18’s only). Teams will comprise of 4 or 5 players but the organisers are happy to take individual bookings and for these people to be placed in a team.

To book tickets for this event, please email weeoscar4life@gmail.com quoting ‘Quiz’ in the subject field.

Wee Oscar 4 Life Race and Auction Evening
This event will be held on the Saturday 17th November in the Kerrydale Suite at Celtic Park from 19.00 onwards. Tickets cost £5 (over 18’s only). To book tickets for this event please email weeoscar4life@gmail.com quoting ‘Race’ in the subject field.

Glasgow to Belfast Cycle Ride
Wee Oscar 4 Life organisers are planning a cycle from Glasgow to Belfast for St Patrick’s weekend in March 2013 and will be looking for cyclist to take part in this event. Interested parties should email weeoscar4life@gmail.com quoting ‘Cycle’ in the subject field and the organisers will get back to you with more details.

For more information please contact the Wee Oscar 4 Life campaign team by emailing WeeOscar4Life@gmail.com.

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  1. tommytwiststommyturns on

    Brilliant result for the organisers and all bucketeers and especially the Knox family.

     

     

    T4

  2. Yeeeeehhaaaaaaaa!!!!

     

     

    What an amazing effort by the fans. Truly amazing!!!

     

     

    That now takes Wee Oscar over the £200k mark!!!

  3. Absolutely incredible amount, truly astonishing that nearly £32,000 could be raised in only 2 hours and with a crowd of 41,000!!!

  4. Thank you to all of the wonderful Celtic family who generously donated on Saturday

     

     

    I am truly gobsmacked at the amount raised

     

     

    Thanks to all who organised Saturdays events, our charitable ethos in action

     

     

    God bless wee Oscar

  5. That is stunning amount raised for Oscar.

     

    I know i should never be surprised at what the Celtic family can do, but this is a simply fantastic effort.

     

     

    Well done to all the bucketeers, and especially to Team Oscar.

     

    Superb stuff!

     

     

    Looking forward to the quiz on saturday now.

     

     

    HAIL! HAIL!

     

    Token

  6. The cream rises to the top again ,take a bow the celtic family. 80% of the way C’mon Oscar

     

    Hail Hail

  7. Charles K

     

     

    I believe that with the other initiatives so far, the Oscar wristbands, CQN badges and the Big Change for Oscar that approximately £37,000 has been raised in total so far.

  8. angelgabriel

     

     

    17:53 on 24 September, 2012

     

     

    Well done everyone.

     

     

    This place we inhabit is so much more than

     

    a blog for bampots.

     

    ________________________________________

     

     

    I hope, if anyone calls into Clyde tonight, that they mention this achievement by “Internet Bampots”. I am not advocating listening to their mince but if ever there is a put down to this ridiculous comment, Saturday’s effort is it.

  9. SOAL,

     

     

    will you have your reversible scarf on at the game on Saturday??

     

     

    HAIL! HAIL!

     

    Token

  10. That is an amazing amount raised in just 2 hours absolutely brilliant,

     

     

    well done all involved and great to see fans of other teams getting involved aswell

  11. £32k is a fantastic amount, well done to all the organisers and all those that contributed. I saw some of the bucketeers struggling to hold their buckets with the weight of all the donations.

     

     

    Get well soon wee Oscar.

     

     

    Indio

  12. lefticlick:

     

    >>>>

     

    thanked you on previous thread for vid.

     

    >>>>

     

    Oscar is a wee diamond surrounded by emerald jewels.

     

    Well done to all of you. I feel…..a lot of things…..all good.

     

    HH!

  13. Well seeing that the WAGs were kept in teams run by the less tempting members of the CQN community.

     

     

    The players obviously could not cope with the thought of their partners spending two hours plus in the company of an older, more sophisticated, witty and devilishly unprepossessing CQNr like myself :-)

     

     

    Well done to every last one of you and, especially to the Celtic support

  14. hamiltontim

     

     

    Fantastic effort from all involved

     

     

    It never ceases to amaze me how Celtic fans come together in times of need

     

     

    ps – don’t mind me

     

     

    HH

  15. And well done to the folk from other clubs who did their bit and the ones whom I am sure have contributed. No boundaries when it comes to this kind of thing.

     

    Humbling. All of it.

  16. Well done to the organisers, the planning and preparation made the difference, the Craic was special and proud to play my part along with my fellow bucketeers and the generous crowd.

     

    Hail Hail Wee Oscar

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