The bells of St Pauls Cathedral ring out for Childhood Cancer Awareness

The bells of the iconic cathedral will ring out to honour the 253 children lost to childhood cancer every month.

Great Tom, the bell in the cathedral to mark the death of a monarch, started the memorial proceedings this morning
Author: Claire BoadPublished 9th Sep 2025

The bells of St Pauls Cathedral will ring out to honour the 253 children who are lost every year to childhood cancer.

Bereaved families have been welcomed to ring the cathedral's bells by Great Ormond Street Hospital and St Pauls.

The bell ringing will be in memory of children who missed out on the important milestone of ringing their end of treatment bell.

To start the proceedings, Great Tom, the bell which is run to mark the death of monarchs, rang three times at 8:30 am.

253 butterfly sculptures have also been placed on the Millennium Bridge, surrounding the cathedral. Each butterfly symbolises a child lost to cancer, and serves as a reminder that the biggest killer of children aged 1 to 14 is cancer.

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