We always love welcoming guests to our Centres of Excellence and showcasing the amazing work going on there in the quest to find a cure, especially as it means we get to meet our wonderful supporters in person.
It’s so much more meaningful than emails, phone calls or messaging, and a great opportunity for us to convey our thanks for all their incredible efforts to help sustain the research taking place in our Centres.
Lab tour at our Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth
A recent lab tour at our Centre at the University of Plymouth (on Thursday 3rd October) was no exception, but with the added excitement that it came on the day we announced news of ground-breaking research. Our scientists at Plymouth are offering hope for a gentler approach to treating low-grade tumours, which often progress into high-grade.
Using a drug to block a protein called MERTK on the surface of tumour cells could be a new means of addressing meningiomas – the most common type of brain tumour in adults – as well as schwannomas, another type of nervous system tumour. It appears that this stops meningioma and schwannoma tumour cells dividing and the tumour itself growing – potentially meaning invasive surgery and/or radiotherapy can be avoided.
Our new Ambassador, Netflix star, writer and producer, Craig Russell, 47, (pictured above) was diagnosed with a meningioma and underwent surgery lasting seven hours. The actor, who had to have his skull rebuilt, said: “Even though the tumour is now a thing of the past, I’m still, 18 months later, recovering from surgery.
“To think that, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, people with low grade tumours can be treated in this way, means that sufferers and their families won’t have to go through what we did.”
What happens at a lab tour event?
After refreshments and a warm welcome from Community Fundraiser (CF) Letty Greenfield, guests went to the lecture theatre for an introduction from our Director of Income Generation and Development, Russell Marriott, who also thanked everyone for their invaluable support, allowing us to fund continuous research at the Plymouth Centre. Professor Oliver Hanemann (pictured top left), Centre Director at Plymouth, then gave a brief overview of the incredible work being undertaken within his team of researchers.
Our guests were then divided into small groups to go round the labs, each led by a scientist, and also visited the Wall of Hope where Communications Officer Liz Fussey explained how Sponsor a Day works and fundraisers were photographed beside the tiles they had dedicated to loved ones impacted by brain tumours.
Days of research dedicated to loved ones
The groups of guests included four women who had lost husbands to brain tumours and one man who had lost his partner. We are grateful to them for their incredible fundraising which has resulted in vital days of research.
Mandy Calaz, who set up the Fundraising Group M & M Adventures which has raised more than £13,300, dedicated three tiles to her husband Mark, lost to a glioblastoma (GBM). She was accompanied by three friends who all help her in her fundraising initiatives, including Pat Cook, who took on a Jump for Hope. One of Mandy’s first charity events was a Walk of Hope carrying Mark’s ashes.
Diane Hale was accompanied by her son Adam and daughter Emma, as well as good friend Serane Trefusis. Diane has donated more than £8,100 through in memory donations and two DIY art exhibitions, allowing her to sponsor two days of research in memory of husband Dr David Hale, who passed away from a GBM.
Alisha Hawke had only been married for six weeks when husband Gavin was diagnosed with an ependymoma in 2019. The couple had welcomed their first daughter to the world two months earlier. Gavin underwent debulking surgery as well as radiotherapy, but in 2022 a scan revealed that the cancer had returned.
Gavin passed away in March 2023, leaving two young daughters, Evelyn and Elizah. Alisha raised enough to sponsor a day in Gavin’s memory after taking on a 150-mile challenge in September 2020 to run or walk five miles a day.
Charlie Sainsbury lost his partner Freyja Hanstein (pictured above), aged 36, to an oligodendroglioma last year as a result of complications from a recurrence of her cancer. Freyja had originally been diagnosed with the brain tumour in 2015, 10 months after losing her husband Lars to abdominal cancer, aged 26.
She underwent surgery, as well as radiotherapy and chemotherapy and, in 2019, worked with Brain Tumour Research to share her story to raise awareness – the same year that she visited our Plymouth Centre. Charlie came to dedicate a day of research to Freyja after completing the Plymouth half marathon earlier this year and raising more than £3,000.
Charity of the Year
Also among our invited supporters were Gavin Calthrop, Richard Cherry and Matt Aitkenhead – all Directors of the Stonewood Group, a South-West-of-England construction and design company, which has to date raised more than £20,000 for Brain Tumour Research. They initially chose Brain Tumour Research as their Charity of the Year after the wife of one of their employees experienced regrowth of her brain tumour. Carly Beasley learnt she had an oligodendroglioma in 2017, shortly after landing her dream job and marrying her childhood sweetheart, Kris. In 2021, she faced a second operation to remove regrowth of her tumour.
Will you Sponsor a Day?
If you feel inspired to challenge yourself to raise £2,740 to sponsor a day of research and would like some advice on how to achieve this, you can get in touch with your local Brain Tumour Research Community Fundraiser (Letty Greenwood, CF for Cornwall, Devon & Somerset pictured above). Go to Meet your Community Fundraiser to find out more.
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Published Thursday 10th October 2024.