How Niamh Jobson's life is inspiring bone cancer treatment fundraising
Despite fighting the disease for more than seven years and even persevering with her flourishing music career after her leg was amputated, Niamh died just days short of her 23rd birthday.
READ MORE: 'Live like Niamh': Glasgow DJ's tragic death inspires cancer research fund
Only 24 out of every 100 people are alive five years after a diagnosis of metastatic osteosarcoma, yet treatment options have remained largely unchanged for 50 years.
In honour of Niamh, however, a dedicated osteosarcoma fund has now been set up. Established within the Bone Cancer Research Trust, the fund's sole purpose is to help drive progress in treatment options and to create a better future for others diagnosed with this devastating illness.
Steering its inception is 20-year-old Finn who is working hard to make the launch night a highlight of the Scottish gig scene. He hopes its success will lead to more such events and help grow the fund while also paying tribute to Niamh's gift for music.
He told the Sunday National the fundraising was actually Niamh's idea.
'She never complained but she thought we need to sort this out and give other people a chance,' he said. 'She thought if it couldn't be her, then something had to be done for other people as the treatment is brutal and has not been advanced for far too long.
'Our mission is to change the whole awareness of osteosarcoma as we want to see some advancements in research to give young people the chance at life that they deserve.'
Finn said it was Niamh's personality that was keeping him going through his devastation.
'If I did not turn the grief into a positive thing then I can literally hear Niamh telling me to shut up, stop moping around and start getting things done. It is Niamh that is keeping us all going.'
As a tribute to her career as a DJ, the launch party is being held at SWG3 in Glasgow on June 28 at the venue's Warehouse and Garden Terrace, featuring sets from Kairogen, Danny Greenman, Timescape, VXYX, Harry Mawby and LAZLO – a line-up of artists who played with Niamh, knew her well and were inspired by her sound and spirit.
READ MORE: SNP MSP Ruth Maguire 'excited to return to work' after revealing she's cancer free
Finn said Niamh, who grew up on the Isle of Eigg, had always had a great interest in music, learning to play the piano, double bass, fiddle, guitar and bass guitar. She was the first person to do a music production course at high school in Mallaig and played gigs with traditional bands before moving into techno.
She first cut her teeth in this genre at the revered Sub Club in Glasgow, later making her debut at Subculture and performing solo and back-to-back at Slam's Return to Mono residency.
Despite enduring multiple rounds of intense chemotherapy and the eventual loss of her left leg, she remained dedicated to her craft – performing, producing, and co-hosting the acclaimed Dub Series radio show with close friend and fellow DJ Kairogen.
Finn said she kept going through excruciating pain and the indignities of her treatment through sheer will and determination.
'She just took extra painkillers to get through her sets. She was amazing,' Finn said.
He hopes that at least 200 or 250 people will turn up at the launch venue which has a capacity of 500. The aim is to turn it into a series of gigs that will continue to raise much-needed money for the fund.
'Creating this fund and launching it in a very 'Niamh' manner, we will be able to assist her dream of helping kids in this position get another chance at life, while also pushing her unique underground club techno sound to the people of Glasgow,' said Finn.
He is being supported by the rest of his family and friends.
The sibling's father Jonny said: 'Niamh was, and continues to be, an inspiration to so many who knew her. Throughout everything she had to face, from 10 months of chemo and the removal of her thigh bone and her knee joint when she was just 17, to losing her leg entirely in 2023, she never complained, never asked 'why me' and never gave up fighting for her dreams.
'She forged herself a career as a DJ, she completed her sound engineering degree and passed her driving test all while facing continuous setbacks and agonies.
'Through this fund, her devastated family hope that her suffering will not be in vain and that other young people be spared the indignities, pain and suffering that Niamh bore with such defiance and bravery.'
A spokesperson for the Bone Cancer Research Trust said: 'Our heartfelt thanks go out to the Jobson family who will be supporting vital research in memory of their much-loved Niamh.
'Through the Niamh Jobson Research Fund, a special fund of the Bone Cancer Research Trust, Niamh's loved ones will honour her wish of improving treatments and outcomes for others.'
Tickets for the June 28 launch at Glasgow's SWG3 are are available through Skiddle and Resident Advisor.
They are priced at what you can afford – £10.50, £15.50 or £20.50.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
42 minutes ago
- The National
Scotland's creative talent must be given opportunities and support
As we marvel at the recent social media posts of Matt Damon discovering the wonders of Buckie, as in Thistle FC, on location in Morayshire filming The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan's upcoming action fantasy epic, it must be tempting to see such visiting productions as a sign that Scotland's screen sectors are flourishing. In reality, there's almost no connection or correlation. Originating outside Scotland, these movie shoots create very few jobs here. The pre- and post-production work is all done elsewhere. The main body of the film crew flies in, bringing their kit with them. Hotel rates are heavily negotiated, breakfasts and lunches supplied by productions, minimising location spend. What about jobs for local screen talent? My web of film and TV contacts tells me eight locals have been hired as special effects technicians on Spidey 4. A few more are working in the costume department and driving cast and crew to and from the set. Most Scots hired are low-paid location marshals who stop the public from walking into shot or being injured. The majority of those hired aren't film and TV professionals. With the exception of a few well-placed, and timed pyrotechnics, no-one working in a creative role based in Scotland has been hired. No producers, directors, cinematographers, heads of departments, etc. So, what are the benefits? READ MORE: 'F***ing slags': Oasis take aim at Edinburgh Council chiefs in first Murrayfield gig Glasgow City Council says visiting productions generated £33 million for the city's economy last year. How do they know? After all, movie studios don't divulge their budget details. The Council's Film Office relies on a daily estimate for out-of-London productions developed by Creative England. All movies aren't created equal money-wise, so it's essentially guesswork, and what's missing from the equation is that filmmakers based in Glasgow – and elsewhere in Scotland – don't see a penny of this bonanza in direct support. John Swinney was right to say recently that 'more needs to be done to increase the number of Scots benefitting from Scotland's screen industry', yet much of the support on offer here is being awarded to screen talent based elsewhere. Let me put it another way – Scotland does not make feature films. When was the last time you went to see a film in the cinema made by screen talent based in Scotland? The Outrun, released last autumn, perhaps? Filmed in Orkney and London, it's based on the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot, who is Scottish. But it's a real stretch of the imagination to claim it's a Scottish film. The director and screenwriter, Nora Fingscheidt, is German. The Swiss-born cinematographer, Yunus Roy Imer, is based in Berlin and London. The film's star, Saoirse Ronan, is Irish. Her husband, Jack Lowden, attached as a producer, is Scottish. Boom! It received Screen Scotland funding. In the world of feature documentaries, Still Pushing Pineapples, which opened the prestigious Sheffield DocFest in June, was made by a director based in the north east of England. A producer based in Scotland was attached. Boom! It received Screen Scotland funding. Meanwhile, we have nothing like Screen Ireland's Perspectives scheme, which is currently funding the development of 31 feature film projects that can be produced with budgets of £655,000 to £830,000 and which will be fully financed and/or cash flowed by the Irish screen agency. With this backing, these productions may then be able to raise more funding elsewhere. It's a financial – AKA political – decision. Screen Scotland has a budget of approximately £10 million. Screen Ireland's is £35.5m and in October last year, it even received a 3.3% funding increase. Around the same time, Creative (Screen) Scotland's spending was frozen. There's little help from the UK Government, either. It's already ruled out a cultural contribution levy on streamers that most European countries have in place to fund homegrown productions. There are some notable exceptions but, on closer viewing, the big picture invariably reveals another story. Streamer productions Department Q, Outlander and its prequel Blood Of My Blood have all received Screen Scotland funding and, over multiple series, sustained more jobs and senior roles here than one-off visiting film or TV shoots. But this 'inward investment' is nothing compared to the subscription riches Netflix et al squirrel out of the country thanks to tax loopholes. Screen Scotland is supporting several new BBC dramas. Currently in production, they've all done a far better job of hiring senior Scottish talent. That said, two of the production companies involved are HQ-ed in London, which means they're the ones who will end up benefitting the most from this public investment, owning and therefore being able to exploit the intellectual property rights. READ MORE: 'Absolutely crazy': Scottish jazz artist scores new film by Hollywood director This includes The Traitors, a BBC network Scottish commission, shot in Ross and Cromarty, made by a London HQ-ed production company which has hired almost no Scottish screen talent to work on successive series. A handful more Scots were employed on the latest series, but mainly in 'trainee' roles paid for by Screen Scotland. BBC Scotland refuses to focus its support on genuinely Scottish production companies. What's more, looking at the BBC's 2024/25 annual accounts, while licence fee income from Scotland rose by 5% to £311m, its network spend in Scotland decreased by 23% and increased by 12% in England. This disparity is alarming, not least because the BBC has pledged to direct more network money to Scotland. The picture is unclear. Clarification is needed. Films like Spider-Man 4 and TV series like The Traitors create an illusion, not the artifice on the screen, but the myth that somehow, Scotland's screen sectors are flourishing. They aren't. Ultimately, filming at locations in Scotland, or with a bare minimum, box-ticking amount of Scottish screen talent, doesn't make movies and TV programmes Scottish. Productions originating in Scotland should be a priority for Scottish public funding. More investment and opportunity is required. If only we had superheroes with the powers to make this happen.
The National
42 minutes ago
- The National
BBC decreases spending in Scotland while licensing fee rises
Although Strachan said the current dramas in the production pipeline have done a far better job of hiring senior Scottish talent, more needs to be done to support Scotland's screen industry. His comments come after The National revealed that there were no Scots hired for the Spider-Man 4 shoot in Glasgow in creative roles. Strachan said: 'Ultimately, filming at locations in Scotland, or with a bare minimum, box-ticking amount of Scottish screen talent, doesn't make movies and TV programmes Scottish. 'Productions originating in Scotland should be a priority for Scottish public funding. More investment and opportunity is required.'
The National
42 minutes ago
- The National
Talent to hit Perth for 'Scotland's biggest street party'
The event is being described as a testament to the 'enduring importance of live performance in Scottish cultural life'. Designed in part by Cathie Boyd, who created Sound To Sea for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, 125 Live! will unfold in an immersive format across three live stages stretching from Perth Concert Hall Plaza to Perth Theatre Courtyard. The headline act for the anniversary street party, which will mark Perth Theatre's 125th anniversary and Perth Concert Hall's 20th birthday, is Walt Disco, the glam-pop sensation whose debut album earned Scottish Album of the Year and AIM Independent Album of the Year nominations. The six-piece band, which includes three Perth-raised members, have performed at Glastonbury, Latitude, Austin City Limits, and SXSW festivals as well as opening for acts such as Simple Minds, Duran Duran and Primal Scream. The show will open with a spectacular Highland welcome as members of Perth & District Pipe Band, led by Pipe Major Alistair M Duthie, perform from the Perth Concert Hall roof. Other acts include Perthshire piper Ross Ainslie (below) and the Sanctuary Band, Skye trad and electronic duo Valtos, Scottish swing and big band That Swing Sensation, and Scottish DJ Jack David. The city's Mill Street will be crammed with food stalls and bars creating a festival atmosphere at the heart of Perth. The show will culminate in an audiovisual display which will see the surrounding buildings displaying Catalonian visual artist Alba Corral's live projection mapping and award-winning designer Will Potts's light display, celebrating both the venues' rich history and their future. READ MORE: 'Absolutely crazy': Scottish jazz artist scores new film by Hollywood director There is also a programme of free daytime activities for families. Christopher Glasgow, director of Perth Theatre and Concert Hall, said: 'What's particularly exciting about this lineup is how it showcases the incredible talent that continues to emerge from Perth and the surrounding area. 'We have a wonderful mix from big names like Walt Disco, who despite their international success have never actually performed on their hometown stage, to artists like Ross Ainslie who played at the opening of Perth Concert Hall 20 years ago and performs regularly in the venues. 'It's a testament to the creative spirit of this city that we can fill three stages with such diverse, world-class talent with many having roots right here in Perth.' The events take place on September 6 and 7.
