Ruth Strauss Foundation
Have you heard of #RedforRuth? It’s a wonderful fundraising event where the cricketing community and beyond wear red to support the Ruth Strauss Foundation. We wanted to let you know all about why the Foundation was set up and what it does as you may know someone it could help.
A large number of families face the impossible struggle of explaining to children that someone they love is unwell and won’t be able to get better. This may be a situation you are in, or maybe you know someone who is grieving at the moment?
Photo credit Ruth Strauss Foundation
In early 2018 Ruth Strauss, mum of Sam and Luca (then aged 10 and 13) and wife of former England cricket captain Sir Andrew Strauss found out that she had a form of lung cancer that could not be cured. It was a huge shock to everyone, especially as Ruth had never smoked a cigarette in her life. To help them to explain to their sons what was happening, Ruth and Sir Andrew found support and guidance from counsellor, Jenni Thomas. Ruth and Andrew learned that having an open and honest conversations is best. This then creates a safe place to ask mum or dad questions or talk about possible worries and fears. And most importantly, it avoids anyone bottling things up.
“At first you feel very lonely, but I found that talking about the situation with family and friends really helped to manage my grief. I promise you, there are so many people going through the same or a similar experience to you. The more you talk about it, the better it is for both your mental and social health.” – Sam Strauss
Photo credit Getty
Photo credit Getty
Ruth died peacefully in December 2018, in her hometown in Australia, surrounded by her family. In her memory Sir Andrew set up the Ruth Strauss Foundation with two missions: to drive more research into non-smoking lung cancers, and to help families manage grief, death and dying together - just like they did.
The cricketing community have been incredible supporters since the Foundation’s launch in 2019, with Sir Andrew being a popular cricket ambassador. One of the Foundation’s annual highlights is #RedforRuth, which we mentioned briefly above and you might have heard about. This awesome fundraising event sees the cricket community and beyond turn red: with people wearing red for the day at Lord’s, clubs & schools organising fab #RedforRuth events (often including red cupcake bake sales:), people posting red pics on social media and even pets joining in.
“We were very proud to have some of the families who were supported by the Foundation, ring the opening bell at the start of play this year. We were surrounded by both the England and India players!” - Sam Strauss
Photo credit Getty
Each one of our supporters helps us to raise awareness and valuable funds so we can help families facing grief, and make sure people know about non-smoking lung cancers.
If you want to know how you or your school can get involved, or to find out more about our cause and family support, please visit:
