Once again we have been very fortunate to have some incredible support in the area of fundraising and we want to extend a huge thank you to all who have helped in 2013 by both personal effort and by sending donations.
- The Gold Star has to go to Michael Haslam, who walked 192 miles coast to coast to raise awareness of bowel cancer symptoms and raised £3,000.
- Malcolm Dawson ran a Golf Day at Ashridge on October 1 and raised £1,350.
- We had a wonderful dinner at Christopher’s Restaurant in Covent Garden on September 13 and raised £1,250, thanks to my friends and alumni from Ernst & Young.
- Karen Dennis, my fantastic hairdresser, held a dinner party at her home and persuaded her friends to part with £800! It must have been delicious!
- My ever faithful and loyal PA, Karen Goddard, did the Thames Path Challenge, walking an amazing 25k in one day to raise £400.
We participated in Christmas in Chesham again this year. The Carol Service at the Chesham Town Hall was generously sponsored by Church View Funeral Service, which has Trevor’s Foundation as its chosen Charity.
Apart from events, our life blood is based on our generous supporters who simply decide to send us a cheque, donate through our website, or make standing order payments into our bank account. Every donation makes a difference to the Trevor Collins Foundation.
I would also like to thank our Trustees, Gavin Sturge and Andrew Murphy, and our website manager, Luke Miller. Where would I be without them!
Last, but by no means least, we have the amazing and unswerving support of our Patron, The Right Honourable Cheryl Gillan MP, former Secretary of State for Wales. I am indeed grateful to Cheryl – our terrific MP.
Publicity
Our major project this year was a poster campaign in motorway services areas across Wales and the South East of England. Running up the M6 to Maidstone and along the M4 and M1 we covered quite an extensive area.
It was a campaign of symptoms awareness, encouraging people to do the FOB test and not FOB OFF their symptoms. I was in the Beaconsfield services when a lady tapped me on the shoulder, pointing to our poster, saying “This is so important.” That was reward enough for me. Hopefully, many more people share her view. She did not know who I was, but I was so pleased to have walked by at that moment when she was reading our poster.
We have our symptoms cards in doctors surgeries, pharmacies and opticians. If you would like some for your surgery or local chemist please let me know.
Links with The Hospice of St Francis
We have helped some patients this year by just being there. I can say that, at last, we are now becoming more established and have undoubtedly made a difference. The Hospice of St Francis, where Trevor passed away, has 25,000 followers on social media and has kindly agreed to publicise across their own media network the services and support we can provide to patients and families.
It is a pleasure to be working with Dr Ros Taylor, the inspiring lady who runs the St Francis Hospice with her outstanding team of staff and volunteers. In return for their support in publicising what we can offer, we are part-funding a bowel cancer bed at a rate of £1,000 per month for a period of 12 months.
Our big news is that in 2014 we are joining forces with the Centre for Cancer Prevention at the Queen Mary University of London, which is located near Bart’s Hospital.
Jaim Sutton from Christchurch, New Zealand is about to embark upon a three year research project as her PhD. Her aim is to improve NHS Bowel Cancer Screening by using DNA in a risk profile computer programme. In the future hospitals will, we hope, be able to assess patients’ risk profiles in order to determine who is more likely to develop bowel cancer.
Our role is to provide the finance for this vital work. With effect from April 2014 we will be funding the full £200,000 requirement for this project over a three year period. I have promised Professor Jack Cuzick that we will not let him down and that our financial support will be forthcoming as required, starting in early 2014.
This is why, for the first time ever, I am including an appeal for funds in this Christmas Report. Any assistance you can offer to support us in this vital life saving research work will be very much appreciated.
Should you require any detailed information about this amazing innovative research project, please let me know and I will be happy to provide you with the specifics. Needless to say, prevention of this dreadful common killer is very close to my heart and improving screening in the UK is one of our primary objectives.
I shall close by wishing all of our incredible supporters and followers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.
Brenda Collins