The Future Fund campaign to establish a specialist children’s cancer research facility at Newcastle University has received its first major donation.

The North East Children’s Cancer Research (NECCR) charity has helped get the fund off to a great start by pledging £500,000 towards the £5.5 million goal to create Newcastle University Centre for Childhood Cancer. Once added to other funds raised, the donation brings the new total to £700,000.
 
The NECCR is a partner in the Future Fund, along with Newcastle University and Newcastle Hospitals’ Great North Children’s Hospital and its donation marks a new milestone in its mission to support world-class childhood cancer research in Newcastle.
 
The charity was founded in 1978 by families affected by childhood cancer and over the past 35 years it has raised £20 million for research in Newcastle, helping to establish the Newcastle University Northern Institute for Cancer Research (NICR) and cementing its reputation on the international stage.
 
Professor Josef Vormoor, Director of the NICR and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Oncologist at the Great North Children’s Hospital, said: “The NECCR has been instrumental in getting us to where we are today in terms of our expertise, our facilities and our reputation and we are incredibly grateful for everything it has helped us to achieve to date. This donation and the charity’s support for our new plans signal the latest chapter in a very successful relationship that will continue to benefit children and ultimately save lives.”
 
The new centre will provide state-of-the-art resources to ensure researchers and clinicians advance their work to develop new treatments with fewer side effects. With current statistics showing that one in 700 young adults is now a survivor of childhood cancer, the Future Fund aims to ensure fewer face chronic long-term health problems relating to their original therapies.
 
Chris Peacock, Chairman of NECCR (pictured with Dr Katie Harland, Senior Development Manager at Newcastle University), said: “Newcastle already has world-class expertise and global ambition which the NECCR supports every year with a grant of £550,000 to fund the work of researchers. Now the charity and its fundraisers are really passionate about these new plans to create a specialist research centre and that is why we are almost doubling our donation this year.
 
“There is already a huge amount of momentum behind the idea and when you add this to the existing strength of the experts you create the kind of perfect storm that makes really good things happen. We are 100 percent behind the Future Fund’s ambition because we see this as the next step in the North East’s incredible journey to eradicate childhood cancers and will be doing everything we can to help.”
 
The planned Newcastle University Centre for Childhood Cancer will be established in the heart of the Newcastle University campus and will help the city retain key staff and attract additional internationally recognised experts in the field.
 
Professor Chris Day, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Medical Sciences, at Newcastle University, said: “We would like to extend our thanks to the NECCR, all of its fundraisers and everyone else who has contributed to the campaign so far. With this kind of support to help us hit our fundraising target we will be able to ensure we accelerate our exciting research into the next generation of cancer treatments that will benefit society as a whole.”
 
How to donate: Online via the Just Giving page found at www.futurefund.co.uk, by calling 0191 208 7250, by texting NCFF01 and the amount of your donation to 70070, or in person at The Journal, Thompson House, Groat Market, Newcastle.  Get involved on Facebook /futurefundnewcastle, on Twitter @FutureFundNCL and use the hashtag #NCLFF
For more information on the NECCR please visit www.neccr.org.uk

published on: 21 July 2014