TV star Gaby Roslin backs Mirror Christmas Appeal after plea from her late mum
Gaby Roslin has a quick trick for spreading joy – a leap into the air, arms above the head, and a big smile, forced or real.
“Are you ready? 3... 2... 1... jump!” she shouts. Surprisingly, it works. The TV presenter is on a mission to boost happiness. Her journey has already led to a book, Spread the Joy. And a big part of her work involves being an ambassador for Young Lives vs Cancer, the Mirror’s chosen charity for this year’s Christmas Appeal.
Like so many people, cancer has affected Gaby’s life. Both her parents had the disease, and her late mum told her to tell everyone about cancer after she died, to help more people spot the signs before it was too late. She’s also found helping children and young people living with the disease as well as their families is a way to turn tragedy into something positive.
And now the former Big Breakfast and Children in Need host is hoping Mirror readers can help really make a difference to the work the charity does.
Gaby Roslin with her dad Clive (ExpressStar)
The former Children in Need host is hoping Mirror readers can make a difference (BBC)Gaby, 59, says: “They are there to hold hands and to embrace and to hug and to be there for the whole family, and that is what blows me away. From the parents that I’ve spoken to over the years to knowing somebody who the charity helped, it is a lifeline because they can feel it’s only them. They feel that they have to be strong for their child. Very often, the young person is incredibly strong, but the guardians and parents hold it all in and they find it very hard to talk about it.”
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Young Lives vs Cancer offers free accommodation for families while a child undergoes treatment, and also provides counselling, food and much-needed support. Its 11 Homes from Home are located near specialist children’s cancer centres in cities including Belfast, Glasgow, Bristol and Southampton.
The charity, formerly CLIC Sargent, supports young people up to the age of 25 from diagnosis onwards and helps the whole family deal with the impact of cancer and treatment, as well as life after treatment and, sometimes, bereavement. Having a sick child means parents are racked with worry, while accompanying financial pressures ramp up stress.
Speaking from one of the charity’s cosy Homes from Home, Paul’s House in London, Gaby, who presented BBC Children in Need with Terry Wogan from 1995 to 2004, explains: “Part of the problem is money. If [the parents] work, they might have to stop working.
Gaby is backing the Mirror's Christmas Appeal“If they’ve got another sibling, they have to take it in turns looking after [them]. There’s also the travel – travel to and from hospital is extortionate.” Gaby, who is mum to Libby-Jack, 20, and Amelie, 16, adds: “A father, half an hour ago, was talking to me and he said this place is so special. They’ve had the most horrific few weeks, and knowing that this place is here for them [helps].
“It was very moving. He makes his daughter, who’s been blue-lighted back into hospital, a home-cooked meal here every day. He wraps it up in tin foil and takes it warm over the road to the hospital so she gets her favourite thing. That’s exactly what this place is about.”
Seeing loved ones battle cancer is something Gaby knows all too well. Her mother Jackie sadly died from smoking-related lung cancer in 1997, aged 62, just as her father, BBC broadcaster Clive Roslin, recovered from another form.
Gaby says: “My dad was diagnosed nearly 28 years ago with bowel cancer, and at the same time, a few months later, my mum was diagnosed with lung cancer. So my parents had different cancers in different hospitals.” Tragically, their outcomes were poles apart. “The day that my dad got the all clear, my mum died of lung cancer,” Gaby says.
At the time, the presenter found the pressure of her loved ones being so ill meant that she neglected herself. She recalls: “I didn’t look after myself. I didn’t give myself time because I thought, ‘No, I have to be there for them, I have to be that, I have to do all this’.
“I had to go to one hospital, the next hospital, then go to work, do a TV show, go back into the hospital, then the next hospital on the way home. One thing that I learned – and that’s why this place (Paul’s House) is really important – is that you don’t do normal things. Anyone who’s going through the same thing, I say, take that time just for yourself.”
Talking about what you’re going through is also key to helping yourself and others, she believes. Which is why it is so important that Young Lives vs Cancer offers on-site counselling for all the family.
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Gaby reveals her parents had different approaches to their illness. She says: “Because I’m in the public eye, my mum said, ‘Do you mind not talking about my cancer with people until I die and, when I die, I want you to tell everybody because I don’t want them to end up like me’.
“My dad, because he was in the industry and he was a broadcaster, he said, ‘I want to talk about bowel cancer.’ And so he was one of the first people, 28 years ago, who was talking about it.” This was an approach shared by Gaby’s friend Dame Deborah James, who died last year aged 40 from bowel cancer after tirelessly campaigning to raise awareness of the disease.
And while educating people is crucial, supporting research and people with the disease are also vital – which is why Young Lives vs Cancer is a worthy recipient of Mirror readers’ generosity.
Gaby is delighted the charity has been chosen for this year’s Christmas appeal. She says: “It’s amazing. The important thing is to remember you don’t have to give a huge amount. Of course, if you want to put an extra zero you can, but every little bit really helps, and it helps those families.”
Just a small donation could make a world of difference to a young person living with cancer.
- £5 could help pay for parking and petrol, so young people with cancer, and their families, can get to hospital for vital treatment without worrying about the cost.
- £10 could pay towards a Young Lives vs Cancer crisis grant for families struggling with the cost of living.
- £20 could pay for a coat for a child or young person with cancer to help keep them warm through the winter months when they really feel the cold due to treatment.
- £24 would pay for one hour of a specialist Young Lives vs Cancer social worker’s time, so that children and young people with cancer, and their families, get the right care and support at the right time.
- £38 could pay for a child with cancer’s family to stay overnight in one of Young Lives vs Cancer’s Homes from Home, providing free self-catering accommodation near to specialist children’s cancer hospitals.
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