A FAMILY has been spurred on to raise funds for paediatric brain tumour research after their six-year-old son fell victim to the disease.

Tragic Alistair Wainwright - who would have been seven today - died on May 12 last year, 12 months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

His parents, Nigel and Debi, have since ploughed their energies into helping generate money for research.

The Droitwich couple created Alistair's Appeal and are holding a summer ball at the Chateau Impney Hotel in Droitwich on Friday, July 6.

They have also launched a website, www.alistairsappeal.org, in which their thoughts and emotions are recorded. The site also includes information on tumours and fund-raising.

His parents say Alistair was a typical little boy who was developing into a bit of joker when he was diagnosed.

"He was mischievous, active, phlegmatic and thoughtful," they said.

"He loved to teach his little sister, Lauren, all the things he had learnt at school and the two were close companions."

The trauma of Alistair's chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, which Mrs Wainwright likened to "high-tech torture", is graphically recorded on the site but has served to propel their fund-raising efforts.

"Today will be Alistair's seventh birthday and the first we are to endure without him," said Mrs Wainwright, 43.

"We are able, as a family, to get through these grim days with the knowledge we are putting something back into the system."

Mrs Wainwright, of Charles Dickens Close, said the fund-raising had started more by accident than design after £4,500 was raised through donations following their son's funeral.

"We had this money and decided to give it to Birmingham Children's Hospital and after that we decided to set up Alistair's Appeal," she said. "From there it has gone from strength-to-strength. We are holding a golf day at Droitwich Golf Club and have the summer ball at the Chateau Impney.

"Research into children's brain tumours has taken place in the States, Europe and the UK, but traditionally more has been done on leukaemia because once upon a time it was the biggest cancer killer in children. Now it is brain and spinal tumours."

Anyone interested in helping the appeal can log on to the website or write to Alistair's Appeal, PO Box 48, Droitwich, WR97ZU.