FUNDRAISING FOR A CURE
Donating is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with us and we will never sell them
[social_button button=”facebook” flayout=”standard ” fwidth=”450″ faction=”like” fcolorsheme=”light”]
I can hardly believe what we have achieved again this year for PLANETS with some incredible fundraising at numerous events which has helped us to reach our year’s target of 100k (200k – total!)
So a massive THANK YOU to all our fundraisers this year including:
The ever faithful Bournemouth PLANETS Running Team that entered the Bournemouth Marathon Festival (particularly Jamie Cummings who did the full 26.2 in his PLANETS t-shirt) and the Poole 5k and 10k, plus all the supporters who attended the Rotary New Forest Horse and Cycle Ride.
Julie Laming for choosing PLANETS as the charity she raised money for at her Mad 4 Dance show and Tracey Hickford and Karrie Wedge that organised the fantastic Absolutely Glamorous Fashion Show in Bournemouth which created a great awareness and fundraising platform for us.
Russell Tarley for his Great South run PLANETS video as well as numerous other GSR runners including Kerry Fourie, Kimmy Douglas, Jo Green, Isabel Carter, Julie Laming, Dave Jones, Ali Bolson, Laura Freak and Katy Haynes who braved gale force winds to raise a combined £7000+ which is a wonderful amount that really does make a difference, with of course a special mention to 6 year old Lauren Davis our youngest ever runner!
Thank you to The Petersfield Community Choir for all their support and the community of Petersfield for their generous donations.
Our first ever Cake and Coffee Morning event was a great success, thanks to all the people who hosted their own mini PLANETS event in their community to mark NET cancer day and Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month in November helping to help raise money and PLANETS awareness. This event will definitely be repeated next year!
Thank you to Susan Rostron for arranging a wonderful Choir Night in Dorchester and The Braishfield Flower Society for a great night in November and the lovely Ele Jaynes –for hosting a fun dinner at Les Mirabelles.
A mention to Richard Burch and friends, Rachel Burch and her super Triathlon Team and James Ball who completed the Thames Path Challenge, Sandra Hewson and Stuart Ramsey for doing the London Marathon and Edward Coke for raising a fantastic £3000 by competing in the West Wight Triathlon. Also, Jonny Green and Nik Porter for completing the London to Paris Cycle Ride for us.
A big thank you also to Graham Green who is doing a fantastic job at pushing the charity whenever he can over the last couple of years, spreading the word about the cause and getting shakers topped up on a regular basis!! Also to Gill Green and her Bransgore TWG group for the generous cheque they presented to us.
Huge thanks to Tori Caine for organizing the massive PLANETS Skydive event and being a great new addition to the team as well as faithful PLANETS team member Ruth Willrich for organising the Princess Caroline Ball – a great night was had by all!
Thank you to Covidien for their generous £2k donation, Waitrose Hythe and Romsey for their donations and also to Kimberly Douglas for arranging the interviews on local radio and in the Echo and putting her heart and soul into the charity wherever she can!
Also, thank you to our many friends in Braishfield who turn out for event after event and are now signing up for so many of our sponsored challenges in 2014. Phew! I hope I have remembered everyone (possibly not – apologies to those who I have missed off), this huge list goes to show how much has been happening this year and how much hard work has gone into hitting our target. Every single person and every single penny raised is much appreciated.
All this fundraising has made a huge difference to patients and now that we have hit the 200k target we can continue to purchase more equipment and improve facilities. The fantastic amount that has been raised by all your hard work this year will help us to achieve the following:
- Introduction of Nanoknife – Currently going through the Southampton Hospital Ethics process to start a phase II study to get data on it’s safety and effectiveness in pancreatic cancer. This treatment will allow us to treat pancreatic cancers that have not spread but are too intricately involved with the adjacent arteries and veins to be removed surgically. Currently there is only one centre in the UK offering this service to NHS patients and we would look to collaborate with them and other European centres (e.g. Amsterdam) who have started this promising new treatment to keep Southampton at the forefront of research into pancreatic cancer therapy. It can also be used to ablate awkwardly placed liver tumours, involving vascular structures, that can’t be treated surgically.
- Employment of a research technician (part funded by IPSEN) to work with our academic team on cellular and genetic research on the samples in our tumour bank in the Southampton Cancer Research facility.
- PLANETS being able to be a part of a trust wide IT project that has a funding shortfall. If we contribute we would expect to see direct benefits for pancreas, liver and NET patients through the ability to run a virtual clinic for patients from remote locations (or with other travel difficulties) and enabling our Specialist Nursing team to do “face to face”, on line, home follow up for patients recovering from treatment.
- MIBG shielded box – same as the box we already purchased (to deliver radio-isotope therapy- PRRT) but this works on a different set of receptors in patients with NETS, expanding our range of treatments.
- Purchase of a second ‘slave screen’ – a high definition screen in theatre that allows scrub nurses and assistants be able to follow operations.
- Introducing IORT (Intra Operative Radio Therapy) We plan to eventually have a fixed site in a new bunker theatre, due to be to built in 2016-17 (using NHS funding), so therefore we are hoping we can kick start this project in advance on a mobile IORT radiotherapy machine. We are looking to see if we can lease a machine using PLANETS funding as an initial income guarantee and we are currently exploring the logistics of this service and developing a business case with a view to starting within 2014-15. This would enable us to give radio-therapy to patients in theatre immediately after removing their tumours to reduce the risk of them coming back, by killing any remaining cancer cells.
- Introduction of HIPEC – Which will be part of managing patients with advanced cancers by washing out the abdomen with a heated chemotherapy solution, after removing the tumour at the end of the operation to prevent tumour cells spreading further around the abdomen causing secondary cancers (peritoneal disease).
I would also like to extend my gratitude to the nursing, clerical, therapy and medical staff including Emma Ramsey, Jo Dowle, Charlotte Beebee, Liz and all the nurses in E8 and theatre 7 and outpatients who do an amazing job, looking after all of us so well. Plus all of our colleagues outside of Southampton General Hospital who helped us this year including Tara Whyand and Richard Ellis .
Finally I would like to sincerely thank Layla Stephen, Jo Green, Ruth Willrich and all of the PLANETS fundraising team who do an amazing job with endless enthusiasm and good will, putting their spare time (and often not so spare time!) into making this charitable fund such a success and all on a volunteer basis! All of which keeps our overheads down to the absolute minimum, which means that we can honestly say that every penny raised goes to the best possible use.
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year,
Neil Pearce
READ ABOUT HOW FUNDS ARE USED
-
PLANETS Funds New Wellbeing Room for Liver Ward at UHS
PLANETS funds new wellbeing room for liver patients at University Hospital Southampton A new wellbeing room funded by PLANETS Cancer Charity has been opened for patients with liver diseases at University Hospital Southampton. The facility, located on the gastroenterology and hepatology ward, provides a quiet space for patients and a place for private conversations which […]
-
PLANETS funds novel 3D printed livers to aid complex surgery
Surgeons in Southampton are the first in the UK to begin using 3D printed models of patients’ livers to help them perform a complex cancer operation. Converting the data available from CT and MRI scans of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma – a type of bile duct cancer – into 3D models will enable better planning […]
-
PLANETS Charity Welcome Coach Alison Bailey to their Support Team
Here at PLANETS we understand how daunting a cancer diagnosis can be. We know firsthand the transformative power of support throughout the cancer journey and have experienced ourselves the highs and lows, the triumphs and setbacks and the profound impact they can have on your life. We are very happy to be welcoming Alison Bailey, […]
-
PLANETS completes £1 million fundraising campaign to purchase pioneering radiotherapy machine
PLANETS has thanked its supporters after completing a £1 million fundraising campaign and making the final payment for a pioneering radiotherapy machine. PLANETS Cancer Charity has been fundraising for the past six years to fully purchase Mobetron, a revolutionary mobile device which delivers radiotherapy during surgery – known as intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT). When the charity […]
-
PLANETS Receive £10,000 Grant from The Hospital Saturday Fund
Thank you to John Greenwood, Trustee of the The Hospital Saturday Fund, for visiting us on Monday and bringing this incredible grant of £10,000 to support our IORT (Intra Operative Radiotherapy) machine. This will enable us to continue delivering this lifesaving treatment at University Hospital Southampton – the only centre in the UK currently offering […]
-
PLANETS Fund ‘New View’ Psychotherapy Course for NET Patients
PLANETS have funded a psychotherapy programme, after a successful pilot course, to help NET patients see their diagnosis in a ‘new view’. We all know that different people deal with their neuroendocrine cancer diagnosis very differently. Initially there are lots of scary tests and Doctor appointments. Then there are lots of talk about […]
-
Head and Neck Cancer Patient Treated with IORT in UK First
A woman from Salisbury has become the first patient in the UK with head and neck cancer to receive radiotherapy in the operating theatre during surgery to remove a recurrent tumour. Jayne Garrett, 53, underwent major surgery at University Hospital Southampton on 25 April after suffering a recurrence of her cancer following conventional treatment […]
-
PLANETS Host the 1st National IORT Symposium
It was an honour to present the fantastic work and great initial results to medics from all over the country at our 1st National IORT (intra-operative radiotherapy) Symposium on Friday June 21st at University Hospital Southampton. After a lot of hard work and fundraising in order to bring IORT to the UK for the […]
-
PLANETS Cancer Charity and the Robert White Trust, Fund a new regional NET Cancer Dietitian
A dietitian funded by PLANETS Cancer Charity and the Robert White Trust Fund is due to start work to develop and provide a comprehensive dietetic service to patients diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer (NETs). Ruth Lee will be based at the Dorset NET service, which is part of the Wessex European Neuroendocrine tumour society centre […]
-
Southampton Secure £200k from The Robert White Trust for NETs Research
PLANETS are excited to share the news that University Hospital Southampton have secured £200,000 funding from the Robert White Trust for a research project that aims to gain a better understanding of NET biology which may lead to a greater range of treatment options for patients with this rare disease. Robert White was a former […]
-
Bowel cancer patient becomes first in UK to be treated with IORT
We are thrilled and proud to update our supporters that a Southampton bowel cancer patient has become the first in the UK to receive radiotherapy during surgery using the IORT machine that PLANETS has funded. he 58-year-old male, who completed a combination of conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy in August, underwent major surgery at Southampton […]
-
IORT Launch is a Success!
SOUTHAMPTON CLINICIANS PIONEER USE OF REVOLUTIONARY CANCER DEVICE PLANETS founders Neil Pearce and Brian Stedman, together with fund manager Layla Stephen successfully launched our long awaited IORT machine last night. The Mobetron is the first portable system able to administer the treatment in this way – known as intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) – and will […]
-
IORT Arrives at Southampton!
PLANETS are thrilled to announce that the eagle (finally) has landed! 2 tons of intra-operative radio-therapy machine (IORT) arrived from the USA this week – currently undergoing acceptance testing. This is the UK’s first ever mobile electron beam radiotherapy machine for treating cancers during surgery. Thanks to everyone who has supported our fundraising which has […]
-
Southampton Aiding Research into Earlier Diagnosis for Pancreatic Cancer
You may have notice that Southampton was mentioned in recent media stories regarding The National Tumour Bank that is carrying out important pancreatic cancer research? Colin Johnson, Professor of Surgical Sciences at University of Southampton, has this to say about the project: ‘The National Tissue Bank is a major development in pancreatic cancer research. Several […]
-
Sainsbury’s Hedge End Donate Digital Radios
A big thank you to Sainsbury’s Hedge End for donating two digital radios to PLANETS to be used in the lead lined Gamma Scanner Rooms at Southampton General. Pictured presenting the radios to staff in the scanner rooms are PLANETS Fund Manager, Layla Stephen, and Dr Brian Stedman.
-
PLANETS to Fund Pancreatic Cancer Research at Southampton
PLANETS Charitable Fund are excited to have committed to provide a grant over a two year period for a pancreatic research project: ́The role of Eps8 in αvβ6-dependent functions in pancreatic cancer invasion’ to be undertaken by Dr Jo Tod. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PC) has one of the worst outcomes of any cancer; only 3.7% of patients […]
-
First Patient Receives PRRT at Southampton thanks to PLANETS
[social_button button=”facebook” flayout=”standard ” fwidth=”450″ faction=”like” fcolorsheme=”light”] UHS magazine Connect featured a fantastic article about NET patient Maureen McKenzie who, in July 2013, became the first Southampton patient to receive PRRT (peptide receptor radionuclide therapy). The equipment for this treatment was jointly funded by UHS and PLANETS showing just how important and valuable the […]
-
Improving Patient Services Across the Region
[social_button button=”facebook” flayout=”standard ” fwidth=”450″ faction=”like” fcolorsheme=”light”] Pancreatic cancer affects over 8000 patients each year in the uk and remains the fifth biggest cancer killer in the UK, despite this its has been underfunded for many years and currently receives just 1% of total cancer research funding in the UK. NETs are a rare form […]
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get informed about the latest news straight to your inbox
