news_highnotes_spring09_l.jpg

A bit of a Who-ha

Highgate School recently welcomed a distinguished rock and roll visitor to accept an enormous £3,000 cheque the pupils had raised for the charity he founded, The Teenage Cancer Trust. But who was it? Who, who? None other than Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who and passionate advocate of the Trust, which raises money to provide young people with specialist care in NHS hospitals.

Daltrey was thrilled with the donation, raised through a number of fun charitable events at the school: ‘This has been a fantastic effort by Highgate’, he said. ‘This money has done more than they’ll ever know – but in a way, it’s for them, too. One in 330 teenage boys get cancer – it’s more common with them than in any other age range. The disease tends to be more virulent and diagnosis harder – boys tend to shrug off aches and pains and put them down to football. We want them to be more aware of their bodies: early diagnosis can save your life’.

Roger Daltrey’s involvement in this valuable enterprise began years ago. ‘It all started with my doctor’, he said. ‘His wife recognised that teenagers were suffering in the NHS through a lack of facilities – they were either treated alongside babies or geriatrics. I got involved by doing the occasional gig, but promised that if the band were to get back together, we’d do a whole show’.

And in 2000, that’s exactly what they did. They managed to raise £2 million for the charity, and there are now 14 specialist teenage units around the country, with another three in progress. But Daltrey is not complacent: ‘that’s only 50% of the country covered. This shouldn’t be a privilege – it should be a right’.

Pictured above: Roger Daltrey with members of Highgate School's Charity Committee.

To read more stories from the Spring 2009 edition of Highnotes, download a PDF copy.

Back to news stories