East Midlands based firm Orchid set to boost Lewis Mighty Fund - 12/5/2010

Pictured above: (l-r) Garry Allen, account manager at Orchid, Jaime Mighty, Sarah Fullaway from Oodles and Brett Critchley, managing director at Orchid

Orchid IT, the Midlands leading supplier of IT support and services, has announced that it has adopted the Lewis Mighty Fund as its fundraising appeal for the next 12 months.

Pride Park-based Orchid will be hosting a number of events over the coming months to raise awareness and much needed funds for the appeal, which is trying to raise £300,000 to send Lewis to the US for life-saving medical treatment.

Lewis, 5 years old, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma, a very rare form of cancer, which mainly targets children under five. Lewis was only three years old when he was diagnosed in October 2008. Most children who have this disease dont display any symptoms until the disease is widespread. Sadly, Neuroblastoma has only a 20% chance of being cured in Europe, making it one of the most deadly of child cancers.

As the treatment is not available in Europe, Lewiss best chance of survival is to visit the Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Clinic in New York City, which will cost 350,000 USD.

Launched in June 2009, the fund has already raised more than £155,000.

Garry Allen, account manager at Orchid, explains how he first heard about Lewis and his appeal:

"As I used to work with Perry, Lewiss Dad, and also now have a young child of my own, the appeal for Lewis really did hit a chord with me when I watched The Secret Millionaire. As soon as I got into work the following day,I asked James if Orchid would be keen to help. Of course, James and Brett both agreed immediately as the company has a strong history of helping local charities, especially when it comes to children."

Financial director, James Twigg, added:

"Orchids aim is to exploit our profile and reach out to our extensive client base and affiliated businesses in the hope that they will donate whatever they can to help Lewis.

"We will also be raising funds internally and we recently held a dress down day in the office. We will also be holding a variety of activities throughout the coming months and are working in conjunction with Oodles, an ethical life insurance provider, for other joint ventures."

Jaime Mighty, Lewis mum, said: "We are delighted to have Orchids support for the fund. We are appreciative of the many dedicated supporters on our Facebook pages, and adding such a high profile and well-known business as Orchid is going to help propel the campaign to another level."