The Azaylia Foundation’s first Annual Report is available to download here!

Full audited accounts were submitted to the Charity Commission on 11 October 2023, and are available for download from their website.

Introducing Make Thread x The Azaylia Foundation! A sustainable fashion collection designed by our founder Safiyya. All pieces are made to be reworn and use sustainably sourced organic cotton and recycled materials only.

100% of the profits from this design will be donated to The Azaylia Foundation. Together we can create a brighter future for children with cancer while being kind to our planet.

View the collection on Make Thread.

We are pleased to announce the collaboration between The Azaylia Foundation and Tree of Hope, a children’s charity that supports families to raise vital funds for their sick and disabled children.

Individual treatment donation referrals will now be accepted through Tree of Hope alongside GoFundMe UK and UK Hospitals. Together we are stronger.

March 2023

16 year old Jake was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour called Diffuse Midline Glioma. He started Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy on 27th June 2022 , for 6 weeks, the family travelling from Eastbourne to London daily. He has continued to receive treatment on a weekly basis since then.

Jake had an MRI Scan on 11th January 2023 to see how the treatment was going. Initial signs were positive; the brain tumour was shrinking! However, despite the treatment, Jake has developed a 2nd tumour & the treatment for the initial tumour has now stopped working.

There are very few options left for Jake, however, there are successful stories of a drug called ONC201 in France, where he has been accepted into treatment which he will receive once the family is able to raise £20,000.

The Azaylia Foundation is proud to have donated £6,717, allowing Jake’s campaign to reach its £20,000 target.

March 2023

Introducing The Azaylia Network, a powerhouse collaboration of leading hospitals, charities and cancer research institutions. Founding members: Birmingham Children’s Hospital, The University of Birmingham, Oxford University Paediatrics, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, University College London.

We believe collaboration is at the heart of changing a broken system, a system that has been underfunding childhood cancer for too long. The Azaylia Network will enhance:

🧡 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 amongst member institutions on what’s next for childhood cancer.

🧡 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 for member institutions’ childhood cancer research

🧡 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 for the childhood cancer research programmes we launch and the donations we make.

Watch The Azaylia Network launch video here.

February 2023

We are so proud to announce the relaunch of Wear Orange for Azaylia again in 2023 after its huge success last year.

This community powered campaign is about creating the awareness, the mutual support and raising the necessary funding to continue to fight for our children and change a system that has worked against them for too long. Our founder Safiyya will be visiting as many schools as possible to discuss kindness, inclusivity and mutual support in a fun and friendly way with students, while parents of participating schools will receive an information pack and video discussing the implications of the systemic flaws from underfunding childhood cancer.

A massive thank you to Fearne Cotton for her support in the Wear Orange launch video.

To find out more about how you and your local schools can get involved, please click here.

8-year-old Philo is a bright, caring and happy boy who loves going to school, laughing with his friends, playing the piano and cuddling with his cat Nacho. Up until now, he’s been a perfectly healthy boy.

His world was turned upside down after a routine eye test with an optician. Philo was sent to the A&E, where doctors discovered an aggressive brain tumour, diagnosed as a Paediatric High-Grade Glioma – Grade 4.

Philo was immediately taken for emergency surgery to try and remove the mass which took over 12 hours, followed by two additional surgeries, spending over 35+ hours on the operating table.

The treatment Philo is currently on is not curative, so his parents have had to resort to seeking expensive treatment abroad, and they have set up a GFM campaign to raise £500,000.

The Azaylia Foundation donated £10,000 to Philo’s campaign in December 2022.

1-year-old Elayia was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive form of AML in March 2022. Elaiya’s Leukaemia presents with a GLIS2 genetic mutation, which means that the standard course of treatment (chemotherapy) would not cure her. The family’s only hope was a bone marrow transplant.

Against all odds, they managed to find a bone marrow donor, but before they had the chance to celebrate, they were presented with yet more bad news. The results from her latest biopsy showed that the chemo was ineffective at bringing her into remission pre-transplant. The consultants unanimously decided to use stem cells from a mismatched umbilical cord instead, which was far riskier.

Elaiya’s transplant went smoothly but months later, Elayia’s parents’ worst fears came true. Not only did the treatment fail to achieve remission, but Elayia’s leukaemia increased tenfold, with no more options for treatment available in the UK.

Elaiya’s only hope is to travel to Houston, Texas to receive stage one of a two-stage treatment plan. A new drug called STRO-002 has been developed which specifically targets Elayia’s gene mutation. It has been administered successfully in 20 children so far.

The Azaylia Foundation donated £10,000 to Elayia’s fundraising campaign in December 2022.

14 year old Ethan was unexpectedly diagnosed with an aggressive form of oesophageal cancer in August 2022.

After undergoing palliative chemotherapy, his parents have found a clinic in Germany which has accepted Ethan for a personalised cancer cell vaccine which relies on Ethan’s immune system to fight the cancer cells without affecting his healthy cells. The treatment came at a high cost and The Azaylia Foundation supported Ethan’s campaign with a £10,000 donation. Unfortunately, in February 2023, Ethan lost his battle to cancer.

This fight needs to be tackled at its root. Relentlessly. With less than 3% of cancer research going towards the number one killer of children in the UK, it is fundamental that we find other ways to accelerate early diagnosis and the availability of new, gentler treatments for childhood cancer.

We are so proud to announce the Azaylia Childhood Cancer PhD Fund. The aim is to create the next generation of leaders in childhood cancer, by providing them with fully funded PhDs in paediatric oncology, in partnership with UK universities and hospitals.

This will enable clinicians – those who have seen first-hand the devastating realities faced by young cancer patients – to take their insights and ideas into the laboratory and then back into clinical practice.

The Fund’s first commitment – over £280,000 – will be matched by the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, to co-fund the first two PhD candidates.