Several fundraising organisations and patients are included in this year’s Impact Report for The Christie Charity, which looks back over 2023/2024 and highlights what impact The Christie Charity has made to cancer patients and their families.
The Impact Report focuses on the key achievements and the life-changing work that takes place at The Christie hospital thanks to the support of The Christie Charity, and showcases how patients benefit from holistic care and the highest standards of treatment, as well as ground-breaking clinical trials. It also celebrates some of the amazing fundraising that has taken place, as well as the kind donations to The Christie Charity.
Nigel Chadwick, from Marple Bridge, is one of many former patients who has made a generous donation to The Christie Charity. A retired sub-postmaster for 25 years, Nigel was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (ACL) in June 2023. Under the care of Dr Mike Dennis and his dedicated team – and following 12 months of life-saving cancer treatment – Nigel received the good news that he is now in remission, so in appreciation Nigel decided to make a donation to the haematology day unit and has also pledged to continue supporting The Christie Charity. Read more here.
Long-standing donor to The Christie Charity, and former patient, Loretta Mooney has helped to support the chemotherapy and radiology departments where she received treatment herself. A financial advisor, Loretta was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. After a lumpectomy and a course of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy at The Christie, she was thankfully given the all-clear. Loretta and her husband Patrick are approaching their 10-year anniversary of giving to The Christie Charity. Read more here.
Linda Jones has been a dedicated fundraiser for The Christie for several years, organising various community events and also completing The Christie Challenge This is where fundraisers complete six different fundraising activities over a year and earn a fabulous jigsaw style medal featuring the rainbow Christie embrace. Linda’s connection to The Christie is deeply personal; she and her late husband David shared cherished moments of normality together in The Christie garden during his cancer treatment. Now Linda has decided to leave a gift in her Will to The Christie to help patients and their families in the future, in the way she herself was supported during a very challenging time in her life. Read more here.
The Christie Challenge was a popular fundraiser with staff at 3 Hardman Square in Spinningfields. They have been fantastic supporters of The Christie Charity since 2022 raising an incredible £20K. The company’s fundraising efforts were inspired by receptionist, Demi Brencher, who had worked there for nine years when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Demi underwent surgery and chemotherapy, but sadly died aged 29 in November 2022. During Demi’s treatment, the building manager, Sam Challenger and her team nominated The Christie Charity as the company’s charity of the year. Read more here.
Andrea Hunt, from Altrincham, also took on The Christie Challenge and is featured in The Impact Report. Andrea’s son, Tom, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at 18 years old. He received life-saving treatment at The Christie and is now celebrating five years cancer-free. Tom’s journey inspired Andrea to support the hospital that gave her family hope. Tom went on to become a junior doctor, having done a placement at The Christie itself, en route to finishing his degree. During Tom’s treatment, Andrea and her family decided to start fundraising. She also volunteers every week at The Christie Charity Centre, as she felt such a connection to the hospital when she was there to support her son Tom during his treatment. Read more here.
Also from Altrincham, social media training expert, Alex McCann founded Altrincham VS Cancer 11 years ago. This annual February fitness event at Pure Gym in Altrincham, promotes fitness within the community and raises funds for The Christie Charity. Altrincham VS Cancer has grown each year, with the latest event raising a record £14,000, bringing the total to over £57,000. The goal is to reach £100,000 in the next three years. Read more here.
Other fundraising groups featured in The Christie Charity Impact Report include The Christie Appeal in Macclesfield (CAM) group and Simsport Racing International. CAM have been dedicated supporters of The Christie for nearly three decades. This small, but mighty, team of fundraisers has raised over £770,000 for The Christie Charity through various activities and events over the years. Many of the group have been touched by cancer themselves and all of them have a desire to support the hospital’s life-saving work. Read more here.
Sim Racing is a form of virtual motorsport where participants use racing simulators to compete in realistic driving experiences, replicating real-world motorsport events. Recently, the Simsport Racing International community organised a 24-hour Sim Race to raise money for The Christie Charity, which was a resounding success, raising over £6,000 for The Christie Charity. Read more here.
Someone who has not only become a dedicated fundraiser but who has also had a huge impact by encouraging more men of Afro-Caribbean origin that ‘it’s good to talk’ to their GPs is Granville Campbell. Granville’s older brother Eric was diagnosed with the very rare penile cancer in 2021 and was treated at The Christie hospital before he died last October. 59-year-old Granville from Stretford wanted to raise awareness and give something back by fundraising. Read more here.
Two charity foundations Walk the Walk and Syncona are included in The Impact Report, thanks to their support of The Christie Charity. Walk the Walk’s funding has significantly enhanced the care that patients receive, particularly through the integration of complementary therapies. These services include acupuncture, hypnotherapy, massage, and aromatherapy which all play a crucial role in improving the quality of life for patients during their cancer treatment. Read more here.
The Syncona Foundation has facilitated the funding of six research Fellows led by The Christie’s Dr Robert Metcalf who heads up The Ella Project, which is named after Ella Pinney, a Christie patient diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC). ACC is an extremely rare cancer and, as such, there has been limited research and funding, with few effective treatments. Ella’s incredible fundraising efforts launched The Ella Project in 2019 to create an innovative research programme dedicated to improving new treatments for the next generation of ACC patients. Read more here.
The Christie Charity is currently funding research to monitor patients receiving follow up care and spot recurrence for Ewing Sarcoma. This rare type of cancer attacks patients’ bones or the tissue around bones and is most common among teenagers and people in their early 20s. It is exceptionally difficult to diagnose when it recurs, but a blood test that detects its presence could speed up diagnosis of a recurrence. Read more here.
The Impact Report also highlights significant advancements in melanoma research, emphasising the positive impact of immunotherapy treatments like Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) on patient outcomes. It also addresses the critical need to understand and mitigate the serious health conditions, or late effects, that can arise from these treatments. The Christie Charity is funding a groundbreaking six-year research study aimed at predicting and preventing these late effects, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the long-term impacts of ICIs on melanoma patients. Read more here.
