​A magical day in memory of Lily

By Rachel Armitage
Published 5th Sep 2023, 07:53 BST
Lily's Rainbow Fund family fun day, pictured with Lily's pebbles painted by Lily's great-grandma Barbara Shaw (right) are Claire Coulam, Erica Adams, Bill Adams, and Steve Coulam.Lily's Rainbow Fund family fun day, pictured with Lily's pebbles painted by Lily's great-grandma Barbara Shaw (right) are Claire Coulam, Erica Adams, Bill Adams, and Steve Coulam.
Lily's Rainbow Fund family fun day, pictured with Lily's pebbles painted by Lily's great-grandma Barbara Shaw (right) are Claire Coulam, Erica Adams, Bill Adams, and Steve Coulam.
​Thousands of pounds have been raised in memory of a beautiful little girl who lit up Louth with her smile.

​Four-year-old Lily Harley passed away in March after battling a rare brain tumour, and her brave parents Emily Morton and Josh Harley launched Lily’s Rainbow Fund to raise money for OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity in her memory.

Lily was just three years old when she was first diagnosed in January 2022, and she underwent two surgeries to remove the tumour, proton beam therapy, and chemotherapy and she was declared to be in remission in October.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sadly, in January this year, it was discovered that Lily’s cancer had returned and was terminal, and her parents embarked on a fundraising mission with Lily’s godmother Brioney Johnson to make memories for her, with a GoFundMe page raising a staggering £64,000.

Dance performance at Lily's Rainbow Fund family fun day.Dance performance at Lily's Rainbow Fund family fun day.
Dance performance at Lily's Rainbow Fund family fun day.

Sadly, Lily’s condition deteriorated throughout March, and she passed away at home on Tuesday March 28.

Emily and Josh then launched Lily’s Rainbow Fund on June 28, with the aim of raising £25,000 in the first year for OSCAR’s to help fund support and care programs for children with brain tumours and their families, raise awareness of signs and symptoms in children, and support research into better treatments.

There have been a number of fundraising activities in and around Louth since then, and Lily’s Fun Day, held on Sunday (September 3) at the London Road Pavilion, was the first community fundraising event for the Rainbow Fund.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Just some of the activities taking place throughout the afternoon included a fun dog show, a set from Twist and Make Balloons, live music and dancing performances, face painting, a bouncy castle and assault course, games, and plenty of food vendors.

Once Upon A Party performed at Lily's fun day.Once Upon A Party performed at Lily's fun day.
Once Upon A Party performed at Lily's fun day.

Josh, Lily’s dad, said that the day was “fantastic” and more people came along to support them than they could’ve imagined – with the ice cream van and pizza van even selling out completely:

“We can’t thank the community enough,” he said, “We still don’t have an entire total of how much was raised on the day, but I do know it is over £2,500 which is incredible.

"All we want to do is spread awareness and keep doing things like this in the future to help other families who are in the unfortunate and awful position we were in to help funding treatment, and obviously research into paediatric brain tumours.”