Annie Lennox donates £10k to appeal for Sunderland singer Faye Fantarrow after tumour diagnosis

Annie Lennox has donated £10,000 to help a singer-songwriter from Sunderland who is trying to raise money to undergo treatment for a rare brain tumour.

Faye Fantarrow, 20, who has played a number of festivals in the North East and has been tipped as a rising star by BBC Introducing, was diagnosed with the tumour this summer.

The 20-year-old was diagnosed with an aggressive glioma brain tumour, which is believed to be a rare consequence of radiotherapy she had as a teenager, when she had a bone marrow transplant in response to acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The musician was recently signed to Dave Stewart’s Bay Street Records label.

Now his Eurythmics partner Annie Lennox has contributed to a fund aimed at rising £450,000 so she can take part in a medical trial in California.

More than £100,000 has been raised in the six days since a JustGiving page was launched.

Ms Fantarrow was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was eight, undergoing a gruelling course of chemotherapy. It returned in 2015, when she was 13 and resulted in her having radiotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.

It is thought the tumour is a rare consequence of the radiotherapy.

In August, Ms Fantarrow started feeling unwell and was told her life was ending when she had further scans.

In a post on her Twitter, she said: "This came as a complete shock and initially not a very good prognosis regarding my chances of survival.

"However I am so, so fortunate to be surrounded by the most supportive individuals who are refusing to give up on me."

Following the reaction to her fundraiser, she said: “I can’t believe that after less than a week you’ve raised 100k of my total already.

“The love and gratitude I’m feeling right now is monumental.”

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