I am delighted to announce that we are on target for another record income in the last financial year: £1.3 million that enables us to fund over £1 million in world-class research. In turn, this will help us to improve our understanding of brain cancer and find out how to prevent, diagnose and treat it more effectively in the future.
It seems like only yesterday that my wife Angela and I had our lives turned upside down when we lost our only daughter, Samantha, to a brain tumour. Following this tragedy, we realised just how little was being done in the field of research to improve the outcomes for people diagnosed with brain cancer – and we decided we had to change this. Now, 10 years on, the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust is the largest brain tumour charity in the UK and we marked our 10-year milestone with ‘Sam’s Campaign’ which raised a record £1.25 million to continue the fight against brain cancer.It is a little known fact that brain cancer is now the biggest killer of children and adults under 40 than any other cancer. However, it is also no coincidence that since we have been funding much needed research into the causes of brain cancer we have seen children’s survival rates go up from 55% to 65% over the past decade. With more funding, we could push these survival rates even higher. The response and support we have received over the past 10 years has been phenomenal. Research supported by us has resulted in a substantial increase in scientific knowledge in the brain cancer field and we have funded a number of major breakthroughs. As well as our life saving research we have also provided a comprehensive support service to patients through our telephone helpline and information on various treatments including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This service has been available for all people diagnosed with a brain tumour and their families and carers. In the past 10 years we have been proud to have helped over 4,000 people.
I would also like to pay a special tribute to our supporters, umbrella groups, friends of SDBTT, donors and patrons. Without your help none of this would have been possible. We receive no government funding and rely on the magnificent fundraising efforts of all our supporters, many of whom have been affected by brain cancer themselves. The money raised has been invaluable to our work; with your continued support we can do so much more.
There is still much work to be done, especially in adults with brain cancer; statistics show that higher profile cancers have received up to 20 times the investment of brain cancer and have seen survival rates double in 30 years while only 14% of adults with brain cancer survive for longer than five years.
We aim in the next decade to transform the landscape of brain cancer research funding; our future plans include creating the UK’s first dedicated brain cancer research unit and expanding our patient support service. Our aim is to understand brain cancer better, to improve the quality of life and survival rates for all children and adults and provide hope where it is most needed.