Katherine Tansey is this years Just Giving Outstanding Commitment Winner of 2019.

She continued her daughter Isla's legacy by encouraging others to decorate brightly decorated stones and hide them all over the world, to raise awareness of DIPG for Abbie's Army.

Isla and her family started the #islastones campaign last year after she was diagnosed with a rare form of incurable spinal cancer called DIPG, encouraging people around the world to paint and hide stones, posting pictures of them online for her to see while raising awareness of her illness.

Pebbles were painted and hidden in all seven continents and the #islastones facebook group reached more than 72,000 members.

In the hours following the news of Isla’s death in July 2018, friends and supporters paid their respect to Isla by laying stones, flowers and other tributes in the bandstand in Argents Mead in the centre of Hinckley. The Borough Council initially worked closely with Isla’s family and #Islastones supporters, reaching out to people through social media and making practical arrangements to welcome the tributes and help the community to share their loss. 

Isla’s legacy continued through the summer of 2018 with a celebration of her life in Argents Mead which was attended by hundreds of people in July to a special exhibition of #Islastones at The Atkins Building in August. A local quarry kindly donated a 6.2 tonne granite stone which has since been installed with a plaque donated by a local stonemason as a permanent tribute to Isla in Argents Mead.

One year on and the #Islastones campaign has charity at its heart and continues to help to find a cure for childhood cancers by raising £73,000 to fund a dedicated ‘Isla Smiler’ DIPG Trial’s Researcher, through events, stone painting, sales of calendars, car stickers, cake sales, bag packing at local supermarkets and more.