EARLIER this week, my Editor heard a radio call-out for anyone called Kirsty to join forces for charity. “Kirstie also counts,” she added, before I could refuse.

I was intrigued. I was always the only Kirstie in my class, amid a sea of Claires, Lisas and Sharons. But as I’ve got older, I’ve noticed a fair few women who share my name, in both spellings (along with the odd Kirsten). When we’re in the same room, it gets very confusing indeed.

Kirsty Waugh is 11 and loves crochet. She was also diagnosed with a brain tumour in November 2024.

Her father, Mat, recalls how her symptoms began with finding the whiteboard hard to read, even with glasses, followed by sleepiness, forgetfulness and sickness (but no headaches). A hospital appointment revealed a brain tumour the size of a golf ball, which was removed during a six-hour operation.

Undefeated, Kirsty gave her tumour a name (Terry) and embarked upon 70 weeks of gentle chemotherapy treatment at the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital in Croydon. In 2025, she raised £120,000 for Children with Cancer UK by crocheting a bunting triangle for each week of her chemo.

But in December, she was told her treatment had stopped working and two new drugs would be required for 18 months, with side-effects including sickness and breathlessness.

Kirsty needed something to take her mind off things. “I've met hundreds of lovely people but some of the nicest were called Kirsty!” she said. “So this year I'm trying to find all the Kirstys and Kirsties to show how much we care about children with brain tumours and raise more money, this time to find cures and better, kinder treatments.”

The deal is this: visit www.mynameiskirsty.com, and if your name is Kirsty/ie, you can add your name and location to the virtual Map of Kirstys. Next, make your donation to Oscar’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity, which was founded by a mum whose two sons were diagnosed with different types of brain tumour. Finally, tell or tag another Kirsty.

Having set out to find 1,000 of us, at the time of writing Kirsty had 1169 of us on her map and had raised 79 per cent of her £15,000 goal.

It got me thinking: exactly how many Kirstys are there nationwide? Unsurprisingly, given it’s a Scottish name, the UK has one of the highest Kirsty concentrations– about 0.1345% of the population, or roughly one in 743 women (0.0174% or one in 5,747 for Kirstie – ever the underdog).

Apparently the name hit a peak around 1989, with the largest demographic aged between 25 to 34 years old (if only). “Since there are almost no baby Kirstys now, we need to do this quickly before we all die out like the dinosaurs,” says Kirsty Waugh. Mischievous but true.

There are around 34.49 million females in the UK, making that (quick bit of shonky arithmetic) around 47,765 of us (of which around 6,175 of us taking the ie). If we all gave a tenner each, that would be £470,765 to charity. Amazing, right?

And the stakes are high. Kirsty was just one of around 400 children to be diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2024. Brain tumours kill more children than any other cancer in the UK, and cause life-long problems for many more. The drugs Kirsty is taking were licensed decades ago, meaning more effective alternatives could be in the laboratory as we speak.

“When Kirsty's drugs were first used, childhood leukaemia was a diagnosis with very little hope,” says Mat. “Today, most children are cured. There are new treatments for brain cancer – immunotherapy, proton beam therapy, inhibitors. But progress is so, so slow.” “I don't know what I see 'future me' doing,” adds Kirsty. “But for these next 85 weeks, and forever on, I want to make a small difference in the stories told of brain tumours. I want to hear about better treatments, that don't limit the things you're able to do.

“I want better outcomes for people with brain tumours - only one per cent of government funding for cancers go into brain tumours, even though it’s the leading cancer killer of children and adults.”

Sold on the pluckiness of my namesake, I parted with some cash. Now I’m reaching out to other Kirsty/ies. Are you reading this? Do you know one – a relative, workmate, neighbour, old school friend? If so, tell them.

Not called Kirsty? Your money is still welcome – Kirstys get stars on the map, supporters get hearts. “What I'd like to get out of this most of all is vital money for research into brain tumours,” says Kirsty. “You never know - maybe we can take that one per cent and just add a little bit more that could change lives for people like me.”