We smash our anniversary appeal target
York Against Cancer’s 30th anniversary appeal has smashed its £100,000 target with weeks to spare.
By Christmas, we’d raised almost £150,000 in support of our new mobile chemotherapy unit, the first of its kind in Yorkshire.
The unit launched last summer to bring treatment closer to home for patients in North and East Yorkshire.
Its launch was one highlight of a spectacular 12 months that also saw our volunteers accorded the nation’s highest volunteering honour, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the equivalent of an MBE.
Other major achievements during 2017 included the opening of our new respite property, a luxurious family house in Filey, and the success of our lifesaving dermatoscopes project, through which GPs are detecting possible skin cancers more quickly and efficiently.
“It has been an amazing year, with a fantastic response from the people of York and around,” said Julie Russell, the charity’s general manager.
“The new unit has been a huge success with patients and the money that has been so generously given has helped get its work off to a flying start.”
A range of events took place during 2017 to support our appeal, including a ball and collections at this year’s Press Family Race Day.
Public donations included £25,000 from the sale of a supporter’s classic car, and the appeal had reached £147,624 by Christmas.
The charity’s anniversary year comes to a close at the end of January, by which time Julie said it hoped to have passed the £150,000 mark.
“It would seal a fabulous year for us if we could beat that figure,” she said. “We are so grateful to everyone who has given their support so far.”
It costs just under £1,000 to keep the unit on the road each day, giving chemotherapy to patients in Malton, Selby, Scarborough and Bridlington while relieving the pressure on the main hospitals in York and Scarborough.
Over its three decades York Against Cancer has raised more than £15 million for cancer research, care and education in York and surrounding areas.