for a summer of success as communities bounce back and help fund its vital, local cancer research
Hope Against Cancer has a very clear ambition – to prolong the lives of those living with Cancer in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
2020 was, without question, one of the most challenging years for many organisations but, despite this, the charity was still able to boast some amazing achievements and have only continued this throughout 2021 – especially with being able to return to in-person events this summer.
With such boosts to its fundraising, this innovative, forward-thinking charity have pledged £40,000 in funding to continue to support the work of the Hope Nurse at the totally refurbished Hope Cancer Trials Centre in early 2021. In addition, they also granted £15,000 per year for three years to part-fund a Hope PhD Studentship at the University of Leicester’s College of Life Sciences. This particular funding is vital for developing our basic research capacity and is often not available from other sources.
There have been many ways in which funds have been raised from supporters and the business community, but the events that took place across Leicestershire in the summer of 2021 deserve a special mention considering it was the first that the charity were able to host in over 18-months.
This includes, their first ever Old School Sports day, which was an epic battle between 11 excellent teams at Leicester Racecourse, pitting their racing (and cheating!) skills against one another. The day saw MicroFresh, Furnley House, Cross Productions, eBate, Eileen Richards Recruitment, Brewin Dolphin, Mattioli Woods, BSB and PPL PRS go head-to-head; saddling space hoppers, balancing bean bags and skipping at speed to raise over £4000! Other sponsors who made the day possible included Raylec, Tax Assist Accountants Market Harborough, Circle Club, Ark Business Finance and 360 AutoLeasing, as well as headline sponsors ADT.
A month beforehand, the ‘Bike for Hope’ event, which raised over £14,000! As well as all the fantastic individual cyclists, they also had innovative support from Jenny at Cross Productions and Leanne at e-Bate who rode a tandem bike across 60km, two e-Bike riders from Ride Leicester whose grant contributed £300 to their total and eco-friendly cycle shirt sponsors, Phillips Sutton and MJ Rees.
More recently, they have even seen members of their very own team take part in a Virtual London Marathon. Despite illness and training setbacks, Katherine Perkins, who works as a Pharmacy Technician at the Leicester Royal Infirmary has recently completed the marathon and raised close to £300. Katherine is responsible for parts of the set up and ongoing maintenance of cancer trials that are run through the HOPE Cancer Trials Centre. She works closely with the amazing research team – sponsors, nurses, clinicians and support staff – to ensure they can deliver the ground-breaking treatments to patients when they most need it.
Hope Against Cancer have also appreciated the support of a number of local patients undergoing treatments and their families who have held a football tournament, hosted fetes, & coffee mornings and organised tennis matches in aid of the charity. The funds they’ve raised over the summer mean a great deal as they’ve all been driven by a real love and appreciation for the charity’s work.
Speaking about the determination and positive attitude which got them to this significant achievement, Hope Against Cancer’s CEO, Nigel Rose, told us: “Throughout the last 18-months we have been presented with some huge fundraising challenges, but we were determined not to stop funding our research. The entire team ploughed on with confidence and never lost sight of our ambitions and goals. Our supporters and volunteers have been outstanding, and I’m proud and honoured to be part of this community. Charities like Hope need support more than ever before so it’s vital that we don’t stop our efforts now.”
Hope Against Cancer have some very ambitious goals for the future and in what has been a difficult time for many charities, the Hope Heroes will continue to help improve current treatments, outcomes and possibilities for thousands of Cancer patients across the UK from this state-of-the-art facility in Leicester.
The sun might not be shining anymore – but Hope Against Cancer are!
If you would like to learn more about Hope Against Cancer or how to become a Hope Hero and help them achieve their future life-saving targets, then visit https://www.hopeagainstcancer.org.uk/
