The National Brain Appeal is the charity dedicated to improving the outcome and quality of life for the one in six people affected by a neurological condition. We are thrilled to have them on board with us for The Big Draw Festival for the second year in a row! Alongside funding pioneering research and providing access to the best technology for expert diagnosis and treatment, the charity also runs an annual art fundraising campaign, A Letter in Mind. Every year, members of the public from a range of disciplines are invited to create an artwork on an envelope; all of these artworks are then priced identically at £85 and sold anonymously in an exhibition at the Oxo Tower, London.

In this article, Marie Mangan, PR Manager at The National Brain Appeal, tells us about Oliver Roberts, one of the artists taking part in A Letter in Mind who is also a patient at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

Oliver Roberts, a production designer and art director, known for working on blockbuster films including several of the Harry Potter and Star Wars films, is one of the artists taking part in The National Brain Appeal's 2021 A Letter in Mind exhibition. Oliver is a patient at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the hospital that the exhibition will be raising vital funds for. He has also created a beautifully illustrated advent calendar, inspired by Queen Square where the hospital is located, to help to raise money for the charity.

Oliver said:

“Being able to use my creativity is the perfect way for me to show my gratitude to the hospital and the amazing staff who have helped me so much.

“A Letter in Mind is such a good idea. I love that the artworks are anonymous so when you are choosing what to buy you are responding to the image and not whether the artist is famous or not.”

The last two years have been very dramatic ones for Oliver. At the start of 2019 he had been feeling out of sorts, compounded by occasional headaches and vomiting. Whilst working on the film 1917, set in a quarry, he struggled to put on his wellington boots and waterproofs. He said:

“I had to be up and out by 6am, but there were days where I literally couldn’t get in the shower.”

Oliver’s wife Eliya knew something was wrong and suspected it might be a brain tumour. Their GP, however, thought that it might be a reaction to certain foods and advised him to keep a food diary.

On a family holiday in the south of France, Oliver’s symptoms worsened. Eliya took him to the nearest hospital, in Carcassonne, where they carried out CT and MRI scans of his brain, discovering a massive tumour. He was unable to fly due to the cabin pressure so his family booked a private ambulance to take him on the 20-hour journey to London. After being assessed in A&E at University College Hospital, Oliver was transferred to The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. He was diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumour with a rare TERT mutation. In April 2019, he had surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, which was the size of a grapefruit. The operation took eleven hours. After some time on the high dependency unit, Oliver was moved to The Molly Lane Fox Unit, the specialist brain tumour ward funded by The National Brain Appeal.

Oliver said:

“I had a real empathy with the other people on the Molly Lane Fox Unit. I remember a man in the next bed encouraging me to be strong when I was having a difficult time.”

Advent calendar designed by Oliver for The National Brain Appeal

In December that year, Oliver had a violent seizure that caused him to fall and dislocate his shoulder. An MRI scan showed that his tumour had come back and was already almost as big as before. In early 2020 he had further surgery, followed by radiotherapy and then gamma knife treatment in July this year. Oliver continues to be monitored by the team at the hospital, based in Queen Square, London.

Oliver and his family are very grateful for all of the care that he has received. As well as taking part in A Letter in Mind and creating the advent calendar for the charity, his brother Tom aims to raise £5000 by running the 1240 kilometre distance that Oliver’s ambulance took to repatriate him for the urgent treatment that he needed. He will do this over a series of organised and personal challenge events to make up the distance.

To find out more about the National Brain Appeal, head to their website here. To find out more about A Letter in Mind, click here.

A Letter in Mind - Making Your Mark previews from 2 November with sales opening at 11am on 4 November at aletterinmind.org

Registrations are open for The Big Draw Festival 2021: Make the Change! Find out more about the benefits of becoming an organiser here and other ways to support The Big Draw's mission here.