Children’s cancer charity opens holiday retreat in memory of teenager Charlie Ilsley

A charity set up in memory of an Emmer Green boy who died after a long battle with cancer has opened a holiday home for families affected by the disease.

Charlie Ilsley was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, the most aggressive form of a brain tumour found in children, when he was aged just eight-years-old.

He endured emergency surgery, multiple rounds of chemotherapy and stem cell transplants before achieving remission in 2015.

But three years later his cancer returned and his family had to launch a fundraising campaign to access specialised treatments in Turkey, Germany and Mexico.

Charlie lost his battle with the disease in December 2020 but the Team Charlie charity has continued his legacy by supporting families who are experiencing tough times with childhood cancer.

Charlie Ilsley pictured with mum Toni.

The charity has now opened a holiday home, known as Charlie’s Retreat, in the scenic Cotswolds, to offer families a break.

Charlie’s mum Toni Ilsley said: “When we were going through Charlie’s battle, we really enjoyed staying at a house in Devon run by a charity.

“He loved it and we loved it because we got to make memories.”

She added: “It’s just really nice to have something like that so you can go and forget about how much it’s costing and what bills you need to pay when you get back.”

Over the past three years, the charity has been fundraising to try and make its dream a reality.

This has included Toni skydiving in Salisbury, scaling Mount Snowdon and generous donations from Charlie’s former schools, Highdown Secondary School and The Hill, in Emmer Green.

Team Charlie raised £80,000, including £20,000 from a National Lottery grant, which has now paved the way to purchase a two-bedroom holiday home at the Hoburne Cotswold Holiday Park.

Toni, 55, said: “We’ve got our first child coming in May. It’s for children to just go there, spend some time there and make memories with their families.

“There’s two parks which are joined by a walkway. All you need to do is walk across the path and you’ve got an outside swimming pool, indoor swimming pool, games room, pool table, dart board, mini-golf, lakes, archery, and horse-riding.”

The charity is working alongside the Royal Berkshire Hospital and Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital to help families affected by childhood cancer access its new holiday home. Claire Brown, co-founder of Team Charlie, was spurred into action to help the Ilsley family after hearing about Charlie’s story on Channel 4’s Stand Up to Cancer in March 2019.

She had never met the family but has now gone on to become a driving force in creating a legacy for the brave youngster and helping families going through similar difficulties.

Claire said: “Charlie's Retreat isn’t just a holiday home — it's a lifeline for families experiencing the relentless trauma of childhood cancer.

She added: “We hope to support hundreds of families from this home in the years to come.”

“This gives us a more tangible tribute to this remarkable young man who captured so many hearts not just locally, but all over the world.”

Toni is also continuing to honour her son’s legacy through her dog boarding and daycare service, Charlie’s Dog Place. Operating in Emmer Green and Sonning Common, Toni launched the business after Charlie told her in his final days that he wanted to work with dogs when he was older.

Toni told the Henley Standard: “When we were in Mexico, he was having immunotherapy.

“We stayed at a ranch and this dog had puppies and he was sat in his wheelchair cuddling all these dogs and he said, ‘this is what I want to do when I grow up, I want to work with dogs’.

“He died on Saturday. I knew it was something I had to do so I opened this dog place and its been so busy.

“One of the fears when you lose a child is that they get forgotten.

“You want to do everything to keep their name and memory alive.”

Visit teamcharlie.org.uk for more details.