THE fundraising appeal for Oscar Saxelby-Lee has broken through the £400,000 mark.

The £500,000 target is now tantalisingly close - and it seems unthinkable that the family will not raise the money they need to take him to Singapore for specialist treatment for his rare leukaemia. And it is only possible because the people of this city - and beyond - have taken this little boy to their hearts.

It will be an incredible achievement but, sadly, as Jen Kelly, the founder of the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, explains desperate families like Oscar's family are increasing in numbers. And there is still not nearly enough treatments available for children with cancer.

It means that attempts to fund Oscar's trip to Singapore for CAR-T cell therapy are not only about saving him. Dr Kelly says it is only through getting more children onto trials and, hopefully, seeing the benefit of them, that these treatments will become accessible to more.

We can only hope Oscar's story - and the stories of others like him - will move us a step closer to that reality.