Young taste testers create new Morrisons ice cream flavour

Morrisons has launched a new ice cream to support children and young people with cancer. The sweet treat has been developed with the help of a budding group of taste testers, who have been supported by CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading charity for young lives struck by cancer.

The winning flavour, Candyfloss and Apple, will be sold across Morrisons stores nationwide to raise £45,000 for their charity partner, CLIC Sargent. Morrisons has been raising money for the charity since 2017 with £7.5 million raised to date.

Backing the launch of the new product is ice cream fan, Albie Noble from Huddersfield. Five-year-old Albie was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in summer 2017 and will continue receiving treatment for the cancer for the next two years. When first diagnosed with the illness, Albie ate nothing but ice cream for a week and has had a soft spot for the sweet treat ever since.

In September 2018, Albie, along with other young people supported by CLIC Sargent, attended an ice cream tasting party at Morrisons head office in Bradford, to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Albie’s mum, Annie James, said:

“We loved attending the tasting party at Morrisons, it was great for Albie to be with others facing similar situations, just being able to have fun and to feel normal.

“It was also lovely to chat to other parents, while of course tasting lots of delicious ice cream. Albie and his brother couldn’t get enough of all of the different flavours to choose from!

“We’re really proud to support the launch of the new ice cream, you can tell Morrisons really care about their partnership with CLIC Sargent and they do so much to help make a difference.

“We really love how Morrisons and CLIC Sargent organise things for the whole family to get involved in, it helps bring normality to our situation even though Albie is poorly.

“CLIC Sargent has helped us so much, they provided a grant when Albie was diagnosed which helped with parking and petrol costs and assigned us a social worker to support our older son, giving him someone to talk to, we can’t thank them enough. I’m now also a member of the Parent’s Advisory Board so I can use our experiences to help others.”

Emily Bell, Ice Cream Buyer at Morrisons, said: “We loved being able to hold the ice cream tasting for some of the families CLIC Sargent helps, it was a real party atmosphere and we’re delighted that Albie is such a big fan of the Candyfloss and Apple.

“We wanted to create a fun flavour that the whole family can enjoy, with 15p per each pack supporting young lives facing cancer across the UK.”

So far support from Morrisons has enabled CLIC Sargent to give more than 5,000 grants to help families with the financial costs of cancer. The money has also funded a team of Nurse Educators who will work with community hospitals so confident cancer care can be delivered locally. That means less travel and disruption to family life.

For more information please contact Aimee Lawless, Communications Officer – aimee.lawless@younglivesvscancer.org.uk or 07771 824563.

About cancer in children and young people

Today, 12 more children and young people in the UK will hear the devastating news that they have cancer. Treatment normally starts immediately, is often given many miles from home and can last for up to three years. Although survival rates are over 80%, cancer remains the single largest cause of death from disease in children and young people in the UK.

About CLIC Sargent

When cancer strikes young lives CLIC Sargent helps families limit the damage cancer causes beyond their health. CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading charity for young cancer patients and their families. We provide specialist support, to help and guide each young cancer patient and their family. We will fight tirelessly for them, individually, locally and nationally.

About the Morrisons partnership

Morrisons colleagues chose CLIC Sargent to be its charity partner following a staff vote in January 2017 and have already raised more than £7 million. The initial three year partnership had a target of £10m that will transform the support CLIC Sargent can give to young people facing cancer. The money raised will provide five new nurse educators, who can educate other health, social care and education professionals close to patients’ homes so they don’t need to travel miles for specialist care. It will also fund Home Hubs next to specialist cancer treatment hospitals, so families can take a break from hospital life or do simple things like wash clothes and prepare a meal. The partnership fundraising will also allow CLIC Sargent to extend the grants it offers to families to ease the financial burden of cancer, which sees each family face an average £600 a month in additional costs.

Note to sub editors

Please note that the name ‘CLIC Sargent’ should not be abbreviated to CLIC, and that the word ‘CLIC’ should always appear in capitals, as above.