13-year-old Callum helps with Tickled Pink – a campaign so close to his heart
When Callum's mum Mandi was diagnosed with breast cancer he did everything he could to help – including doing the weekly big shop at our Coventry store on his own.
When Callum's mum Mandi was diagnosed with breast cancer he did everything he could to help – including doing the weekly big shop at our Coventry store on his own.
He soon became a favourite with our colleagues who helped him if he needed it.
So when community champion Lynda asked for volunteers to help with a bucket collection for our Tickled Pink breast cancer campaign, which supports Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel!, Callum and Mandi were among the first to put their names down.
And Callum enjoyed it so much he came back the following day to help Lynda and our colleagues collect baskets and put away the handheld scanners.
Lynda said: "He was a little star. All our colleagues and customers praised him for his kindness and for being so polite. He was just so helpful.
"When he came in to get his mum's shopping when she was having her treatment for breast cancer he was just so good. She stayed in the car in the car park while he came in with a list and money. All the colleagues here soon got to know him and helped him if he needed it. We thought he was brilliant and even gave him a bag of goodies.
"When his mum found out that we needed volunteers to raise money for Tickled Pink she said she and Callum would love to help out. They both came in on the Saturday and Callum was great helping me out on the tombola and on the Sunday he asked if he could come in for a few hours again just to help."
Mandi said: "Throughout the whole of my treatment Callum's been an absolute star, he really has. When I couldn't do my shopping, because I wasn't allowed to because of my chemotherapy, he would come in every week for months and that's how he knows a lot of the colleagues. They all kept an eye out for him, they were all amazing with him.
"He's been an angel. He's always liked to help. When we have walked around the store and he's seen empty boxes on the floor or he's found things that are broken he'd take them to customer service.
"When he came in on at the weekend for Tickled Pink he was in his element – he loved it."
Mandi, who's 54 and a nurse, was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2022 from a routine mammogram. She had six months of chemotherapy, then a mastectomy, followed by a further six months of chemotherapy.
She said: "I've had a lot of support from work and friends, who have been great, and Callum has been an absolute star all the way through, bless him. It must have been scary for him. I'm so proud of him.
On Tickled Pink, she said: "I wanted to give a little bit back and I saw an advert on Facebook about needing volunteers to say that we would like to help and I also emailed Lynda.
"Tickled Pink is amazing. It's lovely that Asda supports it. Fundraising for a cause like that is so close to my heart.
"My advice is to check yourself regularly and always go for your mammogram when asked. People are sometimes scared to go for their mammogram – they think it's going to hurt, but it's not. Please don't ignore it. I would never of known if I hadn't have gone for my mammogram."