Peaky Blinders cap among brain tumour charity hat haul

A woman with an incurable brain tumour hopes to raise money for research by auctioning off hats given to her by Sir Chris Hoy, Cillian Murphy and Coldplay.

Katie Smith, 33, from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, was told she might not make it to 40 a few weeks after returning from her honeymoon in 2015.

She has since raised £30,000 for Brain Tumour Research and has been asking celebrities to send her signed hats.

The mother-of-one said she could not stand by knowing what the disease does.

"We just started writing letters and using any contacts we had, or could get, to reach out to people to ask for a hat," she said.

Champion cyclist Sir Chris Hoy donated a signed helmet and Coldplay band members sent three hats. She has also had donations from Dawn French, The Vamps and Bastille.

Mrs Smith said her parents went to the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley earlier this year when they found out Cillian Murphy was there filming Peaky Blinders.

"They took a letter and dropped it off with the crew and then I got a message on Twitter from his assistant and it went from there.

"We got the cap he wore as Tommy Shelby in series three with a certificate.

"We were flabbergasted."

Mrs Smith finished her treatment in April and now has scans every three months.

"We just live three months at a time... even if you have terminal cancer you still have to wake up and have a cup of tea each day and just carry on living."

The auction will be held at Villa Park in December.

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