EastEnders works with a charity as Lexi learns the truth about her mum’s illness

The charity Hope Support Services helped EastEnders with scenes airing in tonight’s episode, which sees Lexi (Isabella Brown) discover her mum, Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), has cancer.

This autumn, viewers have seen Lola Pearce and her loved ones deal with the news that she has been diagnosed with a grade four brain tumour.

Lola, however, has avoided disclosing the full extent of her illness to Lexi, her 10-year-old daughter, to maintain as much normalcy as possible.

During tonight’s episode, a suspicious Lexi reads a letter addressed to her mother from the hospital. Having difficulty absorbing its contents, her failure to turn up at school sparks concern for her mum, her dad Ben (Max Bowden), and her mum’s boyfriend Jay (Jamie Borthwick).

The three of them eventually track Lexi down to the park and Lola realises that the time has come to be honest with her daughter.

EastEnders worked with Hope Support Services to ensure that the scenes are portrayed as realistically and as sensitively as possible for all children who have parents experiencing a terminal illness.

Lorna Russell, Safeguarding Lead at Hope Support Services said:

“It’s been great to work with Danielle (Lola) and Isabella (Lexi) on this storyline – lots of families will understand how distressing it can be for children when someone they love has cancer, so we’re pleased to see EastEnders focusing on how Lexi is affected by Lola’s brain tumour.”