Ripon Grammar School ex-pupil’s cancer film nominated for award

This article is free to read. We publish about 100 articles a week all exclusively focused on local news. Please support independent local journalism by subscribing here. It costs as little as 14p a day.

A former Ripon Grammar School pupil’s film about her cancer journey has been nominated for a major award.

Molly Owen, 17, made My Thyroid and Me: A Young Person’s Cancer Story during her GCSE exams last year to raise awareness about her journey with thyroid cancer.

A charity film aiming to help other young people facing similar diagnoses, Molly made the film with the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust, a national charity based in Newcastle.

It provided much-needed support for Molly and her family during her treatment.

Molly’s first cancer-like symptoms started showing when she was in her last year of primary school. But she was not diagnosed with thyroid cancer until two years later.

After surgery and related treatment at St James’ Hospital in Leeds, the Bishop Monkton resident is now doing well.

The condition is extremely rare in children – there are only around 10 cases diagnosed every year in under-18s in the whole of the UK.

The film, available on YouTube, premiered at the World Thyroid Congress in Boston earlier this year and is now given to any young person diagnosed in the UK.

Molly also provides voluntary support to teenagers with a new diagnosis.

Endorsed by the British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons, Molly’s film has been nominated for the Smiley Charity Film Awards.

Since its inception eight years ago, the film awards have emerged as a cornerstone of positive change in the UK, supporting over 5,000 charities and attracting over 1 million individuals.

You can watch the film and vote for your favourite here. Voting closes on January 30, 2026.