Date published: 19 July 2021 by Amber Hemming

A family, whose four-year-old son has been diagnosed with a brain tumour, are supporting a colourful campaign from Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

Rainbow Trust has supported Musa, 4, and his family by pairing them with a Family Support Worker, to help the family with the practical and emotional pressures of having a child with a life-threatening illness. The family have been supported since Musa was first diagnosed in 2019 by our North East Care team based in Sunderland.

Now Musa's family are backing our Find Our Rainbow campaign launching on Saturday 24 July. The campaign encourages local residents to find gorgeous rainbow painted rocks in outdoor locations. Successful hunters are invited to post a picture of the rainbow rocks they find on the charity’s Instagram page @rainbowtrustcc, before re-hiding them for others to discover.

Musa’s mum, Hiba, has painted some of the striking rainbow rocks with her children Musa, Nooriya, six, and Eisa, eight, to show their support for Rainbow Trust. They hope to help raise awareness of the charity by hiding them in their local area for lucky residents to find.

Hiba says:

“Musa was diagnosed with a brain tumour behind his left eye in May 2019. After a few chemo sessions Musa’s reactions to the treatment started to get worse, so we were always in hospital and ended up going back and forth to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle three or four times a day as we needed to do the school runs and be there for Nooriya and Eisa. It was getting incredibly hard for us and then we were told about Rainbow Trust who could help us with support for Musa’s brother and sister.

“Rainbow Trust has made a massive difference to us as they have taken a huge weight off our shoulders. Our Family Support Workers have collected the kids from school and either taken them out until we get home or brought them up to hospital and kept them busy with arts and crafts until we were able to leave. They have also taken them on fun day trips out.

“Our first Family Support Worker was Sian and the children loved spending time with her and going out with her - it was like they had known her forever and they used to count down the days until she would next be picking them up from school!

“During lockdown we started being supported by the lovely Monica who dropped off goodies, toys, arts and crafts on our doorstep for the children as we had to shield from the pandemic. Monica always made sure we had things to do at home and that we all were all ok.

“We hope that our involvement with the Find Our Rainbow Campaign will encourage other local families to get involved and spread awareness of this brilliant organisation, that helps families at the toughest of times.

“I would urge any parents in a similar situation to ours to getting in touch with Rainbow Trust straight away. They are so helpful and make your life so much easier when you need to be in hospital with your child. They are perfect - it’s like they become your family and they are always there for you!”

Local business Queensway Orthodontics has also jumped on board with the Find Our Rainbow Campaign. With practices in Billingham, Consett, Bishop Auckland and Darlington the business had already selected Rainbow Trust at its Charity of the Year. Employees were so taken by the eye-catching campaign that enthusiastic staff have been painting rocks from the beach and hiding them in preparation for the launch weekend at the end of July.

Jennifier Buchan from Queensway Orthodontics said:

“When I told the team about Find Our Rainbow they all loved the idea of painting rainbow stones. So we headed to the beach to pick stones to decorate. We have five practices across the North East and they are all taking part so I'm hoping we really can spread awareness of Rainbow Trust throughout the region of the charity’s incredible work.”

Claire Coussins, Rainbow Trust Head of Engagement said:

“We are so excited to be launching Find Our Rainbow in the North East. It is wonderful to have the involvement from a family we support through their beautiful painted rocks and through the family’s powerful story about their experiences of Rainbow Trust. We are delighted to also have support from a local North East business as well which really helps us to raise awareness of our vital work for local families with a seriously ill child.”

To follow the campaign visit Rainbow Trust’s Instagram page @rainbowtrustcc.