Plumbers pledge to donate £1 from every job to help fund life-saving cancer treatment for 10-year-old

By Toby Porter

A 10-year-old cancer patient’s campaign to get potentially life-saving treatment abroad has been backed by a plumbing franchise.

Pimlico Plumbers has pledged to donating £1 from every job it completes to help fund vital cancer treatment for Chloe Balloqui.

Chloe, from Pimlico, is currently fighting stage four high risk neuroblastoma for a third time, but has run out of treatment options in the UK.

Her family are trying to raise £273,000 for the potentially life-saving treatment, which would involve taking Chloe to Barcelona.

A further £100,000 could then be needed to take her to New York for the next stage of treatment.

With £163,000 already raised, Pimlico is hoping to take the campaign closer to its target with money from the hundreds of home services jobs it completes every week across London.

The company will continue raising money for Chloe until the total is reached.

Pimlico will be displaying a giant 16-metre-long sign on the roof of its headquarters in Sail Street, which can be seen from trains pulling in and out of Waterloo station, displaying the online link where commuters can donate to the appeal.

Chloe was originally diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which is a cancer of the nervous system, in 2013.

She has previously undergone several rounds of treatments in the UK, going into remission before the cancer returned.

Pimlico originally began helping Chloe after she spent time in Great Ormand Street Hospital in 2013, regularly raising money for the Solving Kids Cancer charity, which is supporting Chloe and her parents, Karen Kallaste and Richard Balloqui, during the past eight years.

Charlie Mullins OBE, founder and chairman of Pimlico Plumbers, said: “Chloe is a remarkable little girl.

“We want to match her spirit and the fight she’s shown over the last eight years with fundraising that will take her a step closer to receiving the vital treatment she desperately needs.

“Our team are 100 percent behind helping Chloe and are running fundraising events alongside our £1-per-job donation, which shows how her story has touched so many people and we hope our customers and the public also get behind the cause.”

Karen Kallaste said: “We are so grateful for the efforts of Pimlico Plumbers.

“Charlie and his team have been very supportive for a number of years and this new initiative is fantastic and is so vital for Chloe.

“She needs this treatment very soon and if we can’t get her to Spain, we are out of options.

“She’s not ready to give up and neither are we.  She’s the funniest little girl.

“Somehow through the last eight years, no matter what has been thrown at her, which has been so much, she still takes in all in her stride.”

Chloe’s fundraiser can be found here: https://www.solvingkidscancer.org.uk/appeal/chloe