text:
Login Create an account
Fathers, sons and mentors have once again teamed up for Father and Son Day to increase awareness of male cancers and raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Father and Son Day was set up in 2014 by Daniel Marks and Jack Dyson, two friends who both survived testicular cancer, and whose fathers have also had cancer.
Since then, their campaign has raised more than £100,000 for the charity to help fund the UK's first Robotic Surgical Fellowship programme at The Royal Marsden.
Throughout June, with a focus on Father's Day, the campaign is encouraging men to share pictures of themselves with their inspirational dads, sons or mentors and donate to the charity.
Taking part this year was Dr James Larkin, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden, who was mentored and inspired by Professor Martin Gore (both pictured above).
"Martin motivated me as a junior doctor in 1999 to pursue a career in oncology. I am not alone: a generation of doctors and scientists have been inspired by Martin's commitment to improving treatment for cancer and his unwavering dedication to patients, The Royal Marsden and the NHS," said Dr Larkin.
"After completing my training I was lucky enough to join Martin as a Consultant treating melanoma and kidney cancer in 2008. We still talk almost every day and I am still learning from him, not least in trying to be as effective mentor as I can for doctors in training."
Dr Gore said: "The idea that James still needs mentoring is frankly, a bit of a joke now. His stature on the international scene grows inexorably and he commands great respect from colleagues round the globe.
"James and I are currently undergoing a bit of role reversal – teacher is become student. I am now learning a lot more from him than he is from me. Working with him is a delight: he has great clarity of thought, absolute integrity and a bad sense of humour. What's not to like?!"
Get involved this year by sharing your own #FatherAndSonDay photo on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and donating £5. Simply text MARSDEN to 70800 to give £5 and nominate friends to do the same. For more information, visit fatherandsonday.com.
A widow is walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in memory of her husband, to mark their first wedding anniversary and to raise money for research into sarcoma.
Edward and Cassie Watson (pictured) first met in June 2012 and instantly fell for each other.
"Ed was everything I had ever wanted. He was the kindest, funniest, handsomest and most unique person I had ever known. Almost overnight I knew what real, magical, forever love was meant to feel like," says Cassie, from Great Milton, Oxfordshire.
In June 2014, the same week the couple moved in together, Ed was diagnosed with sarcoma – a very rare type of cancer that accounts for just 1% of adult diagnoses in the UK.
"Of course, with his typical humour, he joked about how he was only ever going to get something incredibly unusual, but behind the smile was a will of pure iron and an absolute determination to deal with, and beat, anything that was thrown his way," says 35-year-old Cassie.
After an operation and chemotherapy at The Churchill in Oxford and nine months of chemotherapy at The Royal Marsden, Ed went into remission so the couple began planning their wedding and organising their lives together. Sadly, seven months later in February 2016, Ed found out the cancer had returned.
The couple married on 19 February 2016, just two days before Ed went back into hospital for more surgery and chemotherapy. The 49-year-old died peacefully at home with Cassie on 21 August 2016.
"He knew how loved and cherished he was by me, his children, his father and sister and by his many friends," says Cassie. "I knew I wanted to do something to honour his memory, to make him proud and to raise some much-needed funds to fight this devastating disease."
Cassie took on the challenge of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path – walking 186 miles over 14 days with ascents said to be the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest. Money raised from the sponsored walk is being donated to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity for the hospital's Sarcoma Research Fund.
"The care Ed received from The Royal Marsden was second-to-none, but sarcomas are very rare, survival rates are not good and much more research is needed," says Cassie. "I want to help spare someone else from losing their husband, father, son, brother or friend the way we have had to."
Cassie was joined by different companions along the route, and arrived in St Justinian's on what would have been the couple's first wedding anniversary. She finished the walk on Friday 24 February.
To help support Cassie's fundraising, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/walk-for-ed.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity is urging people of all ages to unite on World Cancer Day to help build a future beyond cancer.
Brave Eric Wyrzycki (pictured with mum Natalia) is currently being treated at The Royal Marsden after being diagnosed with medulloblastoma – a type of brain tumour – in July 2016.
The 11-year-old has just finished his third cycle of chemotherapy and, together with mum Natalia, is calling on supporters to buy a Unity Band to raise funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
"Being told that your child has cancer is not something you can ever imagine or put into words," says Natalia, from Brighton. "He is coping really well and has been absolutely amazing throughout - he's our superhero."
Eric had two operations and spent a month in hospital before being transferred to The Royal Marsden's Oak Centre for Children and Young People for radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.
The Centre is one of the largest comprehensive children and young people's cancer centres in Europe, which sees almost 600 inpatients and more than 5,000 day patients every year. It was opened in 2011 by TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, thanks to funding from supporters of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
"The hardest thing was seeing Eric lose his long hair because it was a sign that he really did have cancer," says Natalia. "The Royal Marsden has been fantastic and the doctors, nurses and staff are all great with the children."
The Unity Bands are made of two parts, knotted together, to symbolise strength in unity and the power of what can be achieved when people join forces.
Every Royal Marsden Cancer Charity Unity Band purchased will support the pioneering work of The Royal Marsden; helping to fund the development of new treatments that save lives and provide the very best in diagnosis, treatment and care for our patients. The revolutionary way we treat people in our hospitals has far reaching impact, nationally and internationally.
You can buy your Royal Marsden Unity Band from our online shop, our Chelsea and Sutton hospitals, Goldsmiths stores and Banham showrooms for a suggested donation of £2. Wear it with pride as a symbol of support and unity for everyone affected by cancer and together we will get closer to a future beyond cancer.
Four mums whose children have been treated for cancer at The Royal Marsden have ensured children waking up in hospital on Christmas morning will do so in brand new pyjamas.
Charmaine Green from Croydon, who began the collection, Francesca Waite, from Canterbury, and Sarah Corbett and Liz Donovan-Molinaro, both from Bromley, along with their friends and supporters, have collected a staggering 1569 new pairs of pyjamas so that children in hospital can feel special when Santa visits.
Charmaine's daughter Nevaeh finished treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) almost five years ago. Francesca's son Blue, seven, has been in remission from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) for over four years. Sarah's son Jenson has been in remission from lymphoblastic lymphoma for almost five years and Liz's son Enrico, four, is currently receiving treatment for ALL.
Francesca said: "Blue spent two Christmases in hospital. The doctors and nurses really do everything they can to make it a special day but it's still hard, and any little treat like this can really help lift a child's spirits."
Charmaine said: "When you're in hospital the last thing you want to wear is a hospital gown. There were so many times when I took Nevaeh to the hospital and she ended up as an inpatient and we had nothing with us."
They have donated 784 pairs of pyjamas to the Oak Centre for Children and Young People at The Royal Marsden in Sutton, with the rest going to local hospitals.
The first recipient of a pair this year was nine-year-old Samuel Cortes, who was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) and ALL in 2014, underwent a stem cell transplant and is now being treated for a high-grade B Cell Lymphoma.
Samuel's mum Luisa said: "Hopefully he won't have to spend the festive season in hospital but receiving the pyjamas has put a big smile on his face and he has been showing them happily to the nurses on the ward. Seeing your child's face light up makes a big difference to us."
Francesca's friends Debbie Glew, daughter of Kent's 'Panto King' Dave Lee who died of pancreatic cancer five years ago and Lisa Kirk, a Virgin Airlines air hostess from Derby, also collected pyjamas. There are pairs in various sizes, colours and patterns from as far away as Japan and Macy's in New York.
John Terry, Gary Cahill (pictured, on left), Asmir Begovic and two Olympic gold medallists are just some of the people who have laced up their trainers and joined a Surrey teacher on his fundraising mission.
Ben Edwards has run at least two miles every day this year to support The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and to honour the memory of his close friend, Greg Thomson, who sadly lost his battle with cancer in February.
"When Greg was ill I wanted to do something for The Royal Marsden because every time I visited him I was amazed by how hard the doctors and nurses work and how they care so much for all the patients," says Ben.
"Losing Greg made me aware that cancer targets people of any age and it is affecting everyone. Most people either know someone who has suffered or have suffered themselves," says Ben, a PE teacher.
So far, the father-of-two has clocked up more than 940 miles – the equivalent of 36 marathons – and aims to reach 1,000 miles by New Year's Eve. He has ruined eight pairs of running shoes, run in six different countries and experienced all weather conditions, from blistering heat to pouring rain, sleet and snow.
During the year, more than 400 people have put on their trainers and joined Ben on his runs, including Olympic gold medallists Georgie Twigg and Giselle Ansley, Chelsea FC captain John Terry, teammates Gary Cahill and Asmir Begovic, Harlequins scrum-half Karl Dickson, plus football manager and pundit Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Ben's final run will be on New Year's Eve, starting at 11.30am at The Tilt in Cobham, Surrey, and finishing at a local pub fittingly known as 'The Runner'. Ben's family and friends are inviting everyone to join him on the final run, either in person or virtually by posting their pictures to Ben's Facebook page.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity has today been awarded £1,587,546 from the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to boost the care given to children with cancer.
The LIBOR grant will go towards funding teams of play specialists, psychiatrists and physiotherapists, as well as buying vital equipment, at the Oak Centre for Children and Young People (OCCYP) at The Royal Marsden.
Director of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, Antonia Dalmahoy, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this grant. £1,587,546 is a fantastic amount. It is so important that not only do young patients receive the very best treatment and care, but that their psychological needs are also met at what is a very challenging time in their and their families' lives. This grant will help us ensure that this is a reality for our patients."
The Royal Marsden's OCCYP is one of the largest paediatric cancer centres in Europe, providing the very best in diagnosis, treatment and research. The work carried out there ensures young patients everywhere not only survive their cancer, but are able to lead long and healthy lives.
Helping children cope with cancer is very important. Their psychological experiences and quality of life during their illness are essential to ensuring they can undergo potentially life-saving treatment, and reduce any future symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
For example, our team of play specialists use their understanding of child development and employ therapeutic play activities to help patients become less scared about treatment and distract them during a procedure.
With this grant we also want to develop a comprehensive holistic pain management and rehabilitation program for our young patients that in time can be rolled out nationally and empower our patients by making sure they have access to a team of paediatric psychologists who can help them through their cancer treatment and afterwards.
The hospital's ongoing ability to deliver high quality cancer treatment relies heavily upon access to state of the art equipment. There is an urgent need to invest in new fluoroscopy equipment, which uses x-rays to obtain real-time moving images of the body's interior, so that our patients can access faster, more accurate diagnoses and procedures, with fewer side effects. Money from the grant will help us make this much needed investment.
The money, distributed by the Treasury, comes from fines levied on financial institutions over the LIBOR scandal which saw a key interest rate fraudulently manipulated.
The installation of the MR Linac was made possible by a £10m grant from the Medical Research Council to the ICR, with additional support from The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
It is the first technology to simultaneously generate magnetic resonance images and deliver X-rays, allowing radiotherapy to be adjusted in real time and delivered more accurately and effectively than ever before.
The Royal Marsden and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) are the first institutions in the UK to install an MR Linac machine, with the first patients due to be treated in the second half of 2017, initially through clinical studies in hard-to-treat cancer types.
The technology is set to make radiotherapy more effective and reduce its side-effects by tailoring the radiation beam precisely to the patient's anatomy during treatment. It could be especially effective for cancers such as lung, cervical, prostate, bowel and bladder, which move during radiotherapy or change position between scanning and treatment.
Physicists at the ICR and The Royal Marsden have been actively developing the technology for several years as part of an international consortium led by a team at Utrecht Medical Centre and the company Elekta, which makes the MR Linac, and MR partner Phillips.
As well as the Medical Research Council and Royal Marsden Cancer Charity funding for the MR Linac project, scientists were also funded by Cancer Research UK for much of the preparatory research.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "It's a great honour to be involved in officially opening the MR Linac radiotherapy system. This truly groundbreaking device is the first of its kind anywhere in the UK and has the potential to transform the care that cancer patients receive."
Dr Nick Van As, Medical Director at The Royal Marsden, said: "The MR Linac will give us the opportunity to realise our vision for radiotherapy of the future... The superior imaging of the MR Linac will allow us to treat with a greater level of accuracy and to adapt our radiotherapy treatment on a daily basis, meaning less normal tissue is irradiated."
The Sports Journalists' Association has chosen The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to be their nominated charity for the 2016/17 awards events.
The partnership will kick off with the SJA British Sports Awards, sponsored by The National Lottery, being staged in London on Thursday 15 December.
SJA President Pat Collins said: "The SJA is honoured and delighted to support the work of The Royal Marsden. Their efforts to conquer cancer deserve all the assistance we can offer."
Antonia Dalmahoy, Director of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, said: "Thank you so much to the SJA for selecting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as its nominated charity this year. It is thanks to charity supporters like the SJA that The Royal Marsden can continue to deliver ground breaking treatment and care for people with cancer. The money raised will not only benefit patients of The Royal Marsden but those with cancer across the UK."
The SJA committee chose The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as a way of expressing the Association's immense gratitude on behalf of those members and their families who have been treated and supported by The Royal Marsden as well as benefiting from new treatments, drugs and care systems which have gone on to be standard practice nationwide.
More details of the fundraising at the SJA Awards in December and in February will be announced at the events themselves.
Jack Whitehall and his dad Michael are bringing their BBC2 talk show 'Backchat' to London this month for a one-off live performance.
The father-son duo will be taking to the stage at New Wimbledon Theatre on Sunday 20 November to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and Anthony Nolan, joined by special guests Michael McIntyre, Peter Jones and Holly Willoughby. Jack said: "I'm really looking forward to doing Backchat Live as I'm constantly amazed by the courage, bravery and good humour of the young patients I meet on my visits to The Oak Centre for Children and Young People at The Royal Marsden, many of whom are also helped by Anthony Nolan." Jack was inspired to raise money and awareness for both charities after meeting 21-year-old Neil McClean (pictured with Jack), who is currently being treated at The Royal Marsden in Sutton. Neil was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in February 2014 and met Jack on Christmas Eve 2014. Neil said: "Jack was really nice and down to earth and we just chatted about football and his shows. He is such a big star so it was amazing that he spent the time talking to us all." Neil relapsed in April 2016 and was in need of a bone marrow transplant. Thanks to support from Anthony Nolan, a match was found for Neil and he received the transplant in October. He has since bought his nurses tickets to Backchat Live to say thank you for the care he has received.
High seas and cold waters were no match for two fundraisers who swam 15km between the six Isles of Scilly, in support of our charity.
Felicity Cartwright and Amelia Ashton Jones swam the Isles of Scilly Swim Challenge to raise money in memory of Felicity's sister Annabel Hartnett. They have surpassed their target five times over, raising more than £5,000. 44-year-old Annabel passed away in November 2015, having been diagnosed with cancer the previous January.
Felicity chose this challenge because she found swimming was a release for her during her sister's cancer treatment. The Isles of Scilly was, and is, a special place to Annabel and Felicity as they used to spend their summer holidays there as children. Annabel continued this tradition by taking her children to the islands – a place they now love and cherish.
Felicity went swimming every week in preparation, and swam in a lake in Shepperton and in the River Thames. Her training paid off as the water during the challenge was about 14 degrees and they were faced with two metre swells coming in from the Atlantic.
Felicity said: "Annabel often said that one positive she could find out of her cancer was the amazing care and support she received from all the doctors and nurses at The Royal Marsden. They gave her everything that she needed during her brave ten month battle with cancer and she was very grateful for all that they did for her and her family whilst she was under their care.
"In her final month, I told her I was going to take part in the Isles of Scilly Swim Challenge, she thought I was mad but asked that I raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and I am delighted that we have been able to raise over £5,000.
"Annabel's 44 years of life were always full of adventure. Her final year was full of challenge. This swim was about both. I miss my sister every day. During the challenge I thought of the happy summers we had, her bravery last year and the sense of adventure that she has instilled in all her children as her memory lives on."
Find out more about the Felicity's challenge on her JustGiving page.
Mickey Mouse, Michael Jackson and Santa have all worn them, but one man is using his red trousers to raise awareness around colorectal cancer.
After experiencing persistent symptoms in 2014, Paul Finch visited his GP and underwent numerous tests, before being diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer.
The 58-year-old received chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment at The Royal Marsden and is now in remission.
Paul, from Blackheath, said: "I'm a very lucky man. I was expecting to undergo a bowel operation which would have resulted in a permanent colostomy, but thanks to the wonderful care and treatment from a combination of teams at The Royal Marsden, I was spared the operation and still have an excellent quality of life. This is my opportunity to give back to those guys."
Paul is holding the first Red Trouser Day on Friday 21 October to raise awareness around colorectal cancer and the symptoms it causes. He is also aiming to raise £100,000 for our charity, to fund research into the early detection of colorectal cancer.
The father-of-two said: "The concept behind Red Trouser Day started as a bit fun when I was wearing red trousers at a curry night – my younger son, Rob, started questioning my dress sense and whether I had lost the plot. To Rob's total astonishment, I then organised an evening out where 30 of us turned up in a pub wearing red trousers."
The symptoms of bowel (colorectal) cancer can include:
For more information about the event, email [email protected]
Image: Denise Quinlan, Insightful Images
A champion sailor who was forced to pull out of the GB Olympic sailing squad for cancer treatment has taken on a new challenge to thank the hospital that cared for him.
While preparing for the Rio Olympics in the two-man 470 event in December 2015, the 33-year-old from Sevenoaks was diagnosed with colon cancer. Elliot and his wife Manon decided that the best place for him was The Royal Marsden.
Since his diagnosis Elliot has had two rounds of chemotherapy, intensive radiotherapy and 11 sessions of immunotherapy. 12 months ago he was in a lot of pain and would have two or three naps a day, but he now describes himself as 'living' with cancer as he can spend a full day doing activities.
To thank The Royal Marsden for his care and to get his fitness levels back up, Elliot cycled as part of The Big C Challenge in support of our charity. He cycled 250 miles in September, culminating in a big bike ride in the New Forest on 2 October with fellow members of the British Sailing Team.
"I always used to cycle. It's a low impact sport which keeps you fit and builds endurance. I haven't done anything for a year. I'm in a much better place than I was a few months ago and am able to take on this challenge.
"I want to raise awareness of the fact that people my age can still get cancer and that it's important that they keep an eye out for symptoms. There are so many people that I would like to thank on my road to recovery, my wife, family, friends, the British Sailing Team, Volvo, BUPA and of course, The Royal Marsden," said Elliot.
The two-time World Champion and European Champion in the Olympic 470 class was looking forward to competing alongside Luke Patience in his first Olympic Games at Rio 2016 when he received his distressing diagnosis.
"The British Sailing Team is a close-knit unit, and news of Elliot's illness came as a hammer blow to us all. Elliot and Luke were strong medal contenders in their event for Rio," explained RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park.
"It's been a tough period for Elliot and his loved ones but it's great to see him back on the bike again, as cycling has played such a big part in his fitness programme over the years. Back in the saddle and hopefully back in a boat again soon!"
You can take a look at Elliot's JustGiving page here.
Jack and Michael Whitehall are bringing their popular BBC Two talk show 'Backchat' to Wimbledon Theatre for one night only, on Sunday 20 November.
As fans will recall, the TV series has attracted an extremely impressive line-up of celebrity guests.
This live show, staged to raise funds for The Oak Centre for Children and Young People at The Royal Marsden in Sutton, and Antony Nolan, will be no different.
Like many others before them, including the likes of Jeremy Paxman, Judy Murray, Danny Dyer, Bear Grylls, Nigel Havers, Miranda Hart, James Corden, Gary Lineker, McBusted, John Bishop and Dame Joan Collins, a new raft of names will be putting themselves at the mercy of this celebrated father and son partnership!
The line-up for the evening remains top secret but will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets are still available to purchase online, or you can call 0844 871 7476 to secure your seats for what promises to be a rather special early Christmas present.
The Royal Marsden is pleased to announce the appointment of Charles Alexander as the Chairman of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
In accordance with our constitutional arrangements as an NHS Foundation Trust, Charles' appointment was unanimously supported by the Council of Governors on 20 September 2016.
Charles has extensive experience at board level across banking, industry and charitable sectors, including his role as Managing Director of international corporate and project finance at NM Rothschild, and President of GE Capital Europe.
He has served on a number of other boards including the English National Opera where he was involved in a major redevelopment scheme. His charitable work includes The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and the musical charity Opera Rara, both of which he chairs.
For the last five years Charles has been a volunteer with Trinity Hospice, providing support to patients and families at the end of life. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
Cally Palmer, Chief Executive at The Royal Marsden said: "Charles' breadth of business experience, his personal commitment to public service, and his extensive experience at board level will be of immense value to The Royal Marsden. I look forward to welcoming him as Chairman of the Trust and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ian Molson, who steps down as Chairman at the end of November. Ian's wise and expert guidance over the last six years has ensured that we have a high performing and stable organisation which can continue to offer patients the very best in research, treatment and care. His support for The Royal Marsden, his clear vision and commitment to excellence have allowed us to achieve so much for our patients."
Jane Colvin from Wallington, with the support of friends Tracey Tallant and Michele Chaney, will be serving some cracking cakes at her Big C afternoon tea to say thank you to The Royal Marsden for looking after her partner Debbie.
Debbie, 58, has stage four colon cancer that spread to the liver. So far her chemotherapy treatment has been successful, with the tumour in her colon and liver shrinking significantly.
More than 70 ladies are expected to attend the tea on Sunday 25 September, which has a strict wig-friendly dress code, where they will enjoy games, a raffle and an auction. They have already raised £860 of their £1,000 target and are charging £10 per head for admissions.
Jane, 53, is Production Manager at Aquapac Int. Ltd, where Debbie works as Quality Control Manager. She said: "We think that The Royal Marsden is an amazing organisation. The treatment, care and respect they provide is absolutely incredible. We just had to do something to say thank you for looking after Debbie, so we decided to fundraise for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity."
The Big C Challenge is a fundraising campaign taking place this September to help The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity support the groundbreaking work of The Royal Marsden.
Amanda Heaton, Head of Community and Corporate Fundraising, said: "Thank you so much to Jane and Debbie for choosing to support The Big C Challenge for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The money they raise will help The Royal Marsden continue to deliver excellent care for people like Debbie. We hope that everyone has a fabulous time and we can't wait to see photos of them and their friends in their wigs!"
To support the afternoon tea please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jane-Colvin.
Brother and sister James (7) and Lottie (6) Blackwell from South Warnborough in Hampshire have decided they would like to use their pedal power to help others and cycle for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as their Big C Challenge this September.
They will be joined on Saturday 24 September by their friend Aleksija (7) and their mum Claire and dad Leigh along the 23km route around Dorney Lake in Windsor. Initially they hoped to raise £300 for our charity, but they have already surpassed their target receiving over £1,180 in sponsorship.
James, who was inspired by the Olympics and now wants to be a professional cyclist, thought of the idea after visiting his grandmother in hospital. Their granny was cared for by The Royal Marsden and has just finished treatment for tonsil cancer.
Claire, who used to work as a radiographer at The Royal Marsden, said: "Twenty three kilometres is quite far for little legs so we've been getting a lot of training in so that they're ready for the cycle at the end of September – I think they'll be more prepared than me!
"They've seen their granny having her treatment as she's been staying with us and we'd just like to say thank you to The Royal Marsden for looking after her. The care has been exceptional and special thanks to the Radiotherapy department in Sutton who always had an encouraging word to say and a smile on their faces."
Lottie said: "Thank you to everyone for looking after my mama and making her better so she can play with me again."
The Big C Challenge is a fundraising campaign taking place this September to help us support the groundbreaking work of The Royal Marsden.
Amanda Heaton, Head of Community and Corporate Fundraising, said: "Thank you so much to James, Lottie, their mum and dad and Aleksija for taking part in The Big C Challenge. We are delighted that they are supporting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, what a wonderful and thoughtful gesture.
"We wish them all the very best with their challenge. The money raised by the family and their friends will help The Royal Marsden continue to deliver excellent care for people like their grandmother."
If you would like to sponsor the keen cyclists visit their JustGiving page.
A blood test that detects when the most common form of breast cancer has become resistant to treatment could double the average time it takes for the disease to progress, from around two and a half to around six months, a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows.
Researchers at The Royal Marsden and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, showed a 'liquid biopsy' test, which detects low levels of cancer DNA in the blood, can spot women who will respond poorly to current hormonal treatments and who are more likely to benefit from newer drugs.
The research was funded by Le Cure, supporters of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, the Medical Research Council, and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at The Royal Marsden and ICR.
Testing women for the gene mutation, ESR1, allows patients to be separated into two groups, giving clinicians valuable information about which treatment is most likely to be effective.
A seven-year-old boy who battled cancer is the inspiration behind a £100,000 donation to the hospital that saved his life.
Lewis Houghton of Epsom was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt's lymphoma in February 2015, just two days before his sixth birthday. He received intensive chemotherapy treatment at The Royal Marsden and went into remission last summer.
His family and friends have helped to raise an incredible £50,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity since his diagnosis, which has funded a two-year administrator role in the hospital's Oak Centre for Children and Young People to support Clinical Nurse Specialists.
Lewis' aunt Bethan is VP of Human Resources for PANDORA UK and told her colleagues all about Lewis' experience. Her boss Peter Andersen, President for PANDORA UK, vowed to support The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity after hearing about the care and support Lewis received during treatment.
PANDORA matched the £50,000 donation to extend the administrator role for another two years, as well as giving the Parents' Room a sparkling makeover with the help of Bethan and a team of colleagues. Once PANDORA's suppliers heard about the plan, they too got involved by donating furniture, a TV screen and other essential equipment.
Our supporter, TV presenter Lisa Snowdon, attended a special event at The Royal Marsden's Oak Centre for Children and Young People in late August to celebrate PANDORA's donation and to unveil the newly decorated Parents' Room.
Lisa said: "I am so pleased to be supporting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity for such a great project. I have personally experienced the incredible work they do and was thrilled to be able to be part of such a personal event.
"I have known Lewis' mum Jenny for over 14 years and when I heard about Lewis' diagnosis last year my heart went out to her and the entire family. As an auntie myself, I could only imagine how they must've felt hearing the news and am utterly thrilled to know Lewis is doing so well."
Lewis' mum Jenny said: "When Lewis was diagnosed we thought our world had ended, but he astounded us every day with his general calmness at the madness going on around him.
"He learnt how to administer some of his medicines and his knowledge and understanding of the treatment he was being given was impressive for an adult, let alone a six-year-old boy."
She added: "I am so grateful to The Royal Marsden as their level of care, knowledge, empathy and professionalism was so incredible and we will be forever in their debt for the successful treatment Lewis received.
"When he was first admitted, it was very scary facing the reality of living in a hospital for the foreseeable future and, although not something we would ever want to repeat, they made life there as bearable as is possible during such a terrifying time."
Peter A. Andersen, President for PANDORA UK, commented: "We are very pleased to be able to support The Royal Marsden this year. Cancer is a topic very close to home for many of us and to be able to help the hospital in this way is a real privilege. We hope our pledge will have a positive impact on both the patients and their families."
Supporters of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity part-funded a study developing a genetic test that identifies an inherited gene mutation causing advanced prostate cancer.
The test – using a person's saliva – identifies those whose disease may be caused by an inherited gene mutation involved in repairing DNA. By finding those who have the BRCA2 gene mutation, doctors can distinguish between those who would, and would not, benefit from precision treatments targeting DNA that repairs weaknesses in cancer cells.
The test shows whether it's suitable for family members to be screened for this mutation and to check their risk of developing prostate cancer.
The research team was made up of researchers at The Royal Marsden and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), with colleagues at seven other world-leading cancer centres in the United States. They believe that genetic testing could form a valuable part of the treatment pathway for advanced prostate cancer.
Antonia Dalmahoy, Director of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, said: "This is a great example of how our supporters are contributing towards groundbreaking research at The Royal Marsden."
The study is the largest of its kind to date, and the first to comprehensively analyse inherited (germline) mutations in men with advanced, or metastatic, prostate cancer, where the disease has spread around the body.
Further research is needed to clarify the role of the other DNA repair genes in causing prostate cancer and the implications for testing.
Professor Johann de Bono, Head of the Oak Drug Development Unit at The Royal Marsden and the ICR, who led the study in the UK, said: "Our study has shown that a significant proportion of men with advanced prostate cancer are born with DNA repair mutations – and this could have important implications for patients.
"Genetic testing for these mutations could identify men with advanced prostate cancer who may benefit from precision treatment. We could offer these men drugs such as PARP inhibitors, which are effective in patients with certain DNA repair mutations and are showing important anti-tumour activity in ongoing clinical trials.
"Where we find BRCA2 mutations, we could also offer genetic testing and counselling to relatives of the patient to consider how we can reduce their cancer risk. We also need to establish the impact of having DNA repair defects on survival in men with prostate cancer, and whether we can predict who will develop severe disease, so we can design new treatment strategies to cure this disease."
Some 12% of men with advanced prostate cancer in the study population were found to have inherited mutations in one of several genes involved in DNA repair – such as the breast cancer gene BRCA2.
The study was also funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Stand Up to Cancer, through a Movember and Prostate Cancer UK grant to The London Movember Centre of Excellence, through the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden, and by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at The Royal Marsden and the ICR.
After climbing the highest mountain in Africa a mum-of-five will now be cycling 100miles for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Dr Naomi Potter, a GP and local businesswoman and her friend Sally Lawrence have just returned from Tanzania, where they climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the largest mountain in Africa.
Over the last 12 months the friends from Wimbledon have walked the 14-mile Marsden March, run a half marathon, climbed Kilimanjaro and will take place in the Prudential RideLondon this Sunday.
All of this work has seen them raise more than £10,000 for our charity. They have also signed up to the Amsterdam marathon in October.
Dr Potter said: "Behind all of these challenges is one reason, The Royal Marsden, which is very dear to our hearts. This hospital has helped save the lives of people we know and love. Many were struck down as children and young adults and, because of incredible work at The Royal Marsden, are now leading normal lives. Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to be cured, highlighting the need for more research into better treatment."
Naomi and Sally will be joined at the Prudential RideLondon cycle on Sunday 31 July by Naomi's husband Dr Mike Potter, Consultant Haematologist and Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation at The Royal Marsden, and friends Jackie Scanlon and Chris Winston.
Dr Mike Potter, who joined his wife in her fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in the Marsden March and has been training for this challenge for the last 12-months, said: "It's been really good fun taking part in fundraising events for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. We may be up for another challenge in the future but will need a rest after the 100 mile Prudential bike ride!"
To sponsor the team visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pruhappyfeet.
In April 2016, Dicky Birds Nurseries organised their own 'Dicky Birds Waddle', a personalised My Marsden March event. They walked 5km along the Thames in springtime showers, starting in Canbury Gardens, Kingston. From siblings pushing babies in prams to dads and sons jogging, whole families came out to waddle along with the young nursery children.
Over the past two years the Dicky Birds Waddle has raised an incredible £10,000 for us! Thank you.
Ross Osnowski from Dicky Birds Nurseries said: "A huge thank you to all of our parents, their chicks, our staff and friends for taking part in the second annual Dicky Birds Waddle. What a great morning! We are very pleased to say, despite the hailstorm, the run had a 100% completion rate and that several of our runners, both big and small, went above and beyond the chosen distance.
"The Royal Marsden carries out amazing work, both in care and research, and we are very proud that our little Waddle helps in some way to support its pioneering endeavours."
Across the country, nurseries, schools and colleges are organising their own My Marsden March events. If you're feeling inspired and would like to organise a walk for your students and teachers, visit our My Marsden March for schools page.
Elena Deilamy, from Pyrford, Surrey, asked for donations for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity instead of presents for her tenth birthday.
Her target was to raise £300, but thanks to her generous family and friends she has raised more than £1,000 for the cancer charity.
Elena, who attends Halstead Preparatory School for Girls, wanted to raise money for The Oak Centre for Children and Young People as her friend's sister is being cared for by The Royal Marsden.
Seven-year-old Isabella was in remission for leukaemia two years ago, but the cancer returned. Isabella has had intensive chemotherapy and recently received a bone marrow transplant from big sister Evie.
Elena's mum, Helen, said: "Elena became friends with Evie at school. After finding out that Evie's sister was so poorly she wanted to raise money for The Royal Marsden who care for her.
"Once we set up the JustGiving page the fundraising just snowballed: it kept growing and growing. She really is a selfless little girl and it would be great if another child upon reading her story is inspired to do the same. Children these days have so much stuff they just don't need I think it would be lovely if more could do the same."
Elena said: "Thank you very much to everyone who donated money for my birthday. I hope the money will help other children with leukaemia at The Royal Marsden."
If you would like to sponsor Elena please visit her JustGiving page.
Two boys who battled cancer have been chosen to be the official mascots at the Aegon Championship final at The Queen's Club.
10-year-old Cameron Austin (pictured) and Lewis Houghton, seven, both received treatment at The Royal Marsden's Oak Centre for Children and Young People in Sutton.
Cameron, from Cheam, first battled non-Hodgkins lymphoma aged two-and-a-half, and spent five years in remission before being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia last September. After 16 weeks of intensive chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant from a German donor and eight weeks in isolation, Cameron is now back in remission and doing well at home.
Mum Elaine said: "Cameron is very excited to be going to Queens. He has only had a few weeks out of hospital since September, even spending his 10th birthday in isolation, so being given the opportunity to attend such an event means so much to him, and all of us as a family."
Lewis, from Epsom, was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma in February last year and underwent four months of intensive chemotherapy, but was thankfully confirmed to be in remission last summer.
His family and friends have helped to raise an incredible £50,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity since his diagnosis.
Mum Jenny said: "Lewis is absolutely thrilled to be invited back to be a mascot for the second year running... we are all so proud and excited to see him return in full remission and able to fully enjoy the experience. Thank you again to the LTA for their wonderful support."
The Aegon Championships at The Queen's Club has supported The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity since 2013, after British tennis player Ross Hutchins was successfully treated at the hospital for Hodgkin lymphoma.
They support the charity each year by putting on Rally Against Cancer – a week of fundraising helping young cancer patients at The Royal Marsden.
Hannah Margrett has completed a My Marsden March, climbing Mt. Pedraforca in Spain with her colleagues and friends.
They successfully completed their challenge despite hailstorms, thunder and lightning, raising over £1,660 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in memory of Hannah's mum, Patsy Margrett.
HRH The Duke of Cambridge today opened the Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research at The Royal Marsden in Chelsea.
The Duke visited the brand new breast cancer research facility and took a tour of the Diane McCarthy Medical Day Unit, where patients receive intravenous drug therapies, including some which are being developed in the Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research.
The Duke was shown around the endocrinology lab, where samples from around the country arrive and are stored and analysed for hormone levels, followed by the immunochemistry lab where tissue samples are processed for specific markers or aggressiveness of disease. The Duke saw how up to 200 breast tumours can be assessed for markers of disease on a single slide.
The new centre allows for pioneering breast cancer research that will draw upon new technological advances and allow much more rapid and in-depth analysis of our patients' disease. The aim is to identify molecular differences between tumours in order to ensure optimal treatment of individual breast cancer patients, reducing recurrence and mortality from the disease as well as eliminating unnecessary toxicity from unnecessary treatments.
Professor Mitch Dowsett, Head of the Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research, said: "It was a privilege to show HRH The Duke of Cambridge around our new centre. He showed great interest in breast cancer research and the work that we do here.
"Over recent years, the programme of translational research in breast cancer at The Royal Marsden has delivered many advances that continue to influence patient care. Our new centre and the programme running here will maintain that approach and draw upon newer technology and advances that allow more rapid and in-depth molecular analysis of our patients' disease. It was a fantastic opportunity to explain our work to the Duke."
Chief Executive Cally Palmer said: "We were delighted to welcome our President back to the hospital in Chelsea today to open the Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research. As always, we are very grateful for the Duke's continued support for our patients and for the work we do at The Royal Marsden."
"Through the very generous donations from supporters of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and Ralph Lauren, we have a centre developed to the highest specification, providing world-class breast cancer research, staffed by a team of world-renowned clinicians and scientists working with the latest cancer research technology. It sets a benchmark for global cancer research."
Catch up on some of the photos and tweets from the day with our Storify below.
21 children from Years 5 and 6 of Oakhyrst Grange School in Caterham recently walked ten miles to raise money for our charity.
The walk, which started and finished at The Fox in Old Coulsdon, has so far raised £4340.
Oakhyrst's Deputy Head James Vincent said: "The children who took part all need to be congratulated, as ten miles is a considerable distance for 9-11 year olds."
If you'd like to support Oakhyrst Grange's fundraising further, take a look at their JustGiving here.
If your school would like to take on a Marsden March, please click here.
We were having some problems with receiving your emails but thankfully this issue has now been resolved.
But things are still getting back to normal, so if you sent us an email there may be a bit of a delay in us getting back to you.
If you sent us an email last week, it's possible we won't receive it at all.
We're very sorry for the inconvenience but if you haven't had a timely reply, it's probably best to resend your message to make sure we can respond to your query.
If you're unsure whether or not your message has been received, or if there's anything we can to do help, please feel free to call us on: 020 8770 0279.
Two brave women will abseil down the Spinnaker Tower this weekend.
Pat McNab and Lucie Vasselin are both taking on this 100m challenge for very different reasons.
Lucie (pictured) is raising funds for our charity after son Harry, four, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2015. He was transferred to the hospital and continues to receive daily chemotherapy treatment.
Lucie said: "The care has been brilliant at The Royal Marsden and the staff have been amazing with Harry. Seeing the incredible work that they do, and the many children being cared for there, has made me want to give a bit back.
"Harry now has weekly blood tests to check his blood levels, which is a battle. To me, the Spinnaker Tower looks like a needle and is symbolic of what Harry is going through. As Harry conquers his fear of needles, I am going to conquer this giant one for him."
Donate to Lucie's JustGiving page here.
Meanwhile, Pat, 73, is raising funds for our charity in memory of sister Rosemary, who sadly died last year after battling a rare type of pancreatic cancer.
Pat, a grandmother of nine, said: "I was an international pentathlete and 100m hurdler when I was younger and have always been willing to try new challenges. I'm renowned for being crazy so my family wasn't too shocked when I told them what I was planning to do. I like a challenge and the adrenaline so I'm looking forward to it, although I'm getting a bit nervous the closer it gets."
She added: "I chose The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity because it funds pioneering work in cancer research, diagnosis, treatment and care to improve the lives of all cancer patients. Cancer touches almost everyone, in some way, so it's important that we try to fund as much research as possible. The more types of cancer we can conquer the better."
Support Pat through her JustGiving page here.
Best of luck to both of these wonderful women!
Amy Carter, 22, completed this year's Virgin Money London Marathon, her first, in six hours and 54 minutes, raising more than £5,500 as a thank you to The Royal Marsden for caring for her friend Holly.
The paediatric nurse (pictured on the right), along with more than 100 other runners, took part in this year's London Marathon after Holly was cared for at the hospital. Holly was diagnosed with a rare form of abdominal cancer in September 2015 after she and Amy completed nursing degrees at King's College London. She passed away in March 2016.
Amy said: "It is safe to say that Holly's diagnosis came as a huge shock to our group of friends. Holly was so kind-hearted, fun-loving and one of the most beautiful girls you could ever wish to meet. She would do anything for any one of us; that's why I want to dedicate this challenge to her and the fantastic staff of The Royal Marsden.
"The hospital provided Holly with exceptional care and I can truly say the girls and I are so grateful for everything they have done and will continue to do for everyone else who are under their care. Cancer changes peoples' lives forever but I hope the money I raise for The Royal Marsden can continue to provide such amazing care for people with the disease."
After completing the run, Amy said: "It was the hardest thing both physically and mentally but the atmosphere was incredible. When strangers shout your name and give you that boost of encouragement, it feels overwhelming. The feeling when you finally cross the finish line is unexplainable. I had the most amazing family and friends supporting me all the way along the route and without them I could never have crossed that line."
Amanda Heaton, Head of Community and Corporate Fundraising, said: "Thank you so much to Amy for signing up to run the Virgin Money London Marathon for us. The money she raised will help us build a future beyond cancer for other people with cancer."
Nigel Sedgwick is taking on a 40km windsurf race in memory of his dad, who was treated at The Royal Marsden.
His dad Terry was treated for mesothelioma at the hospital and was given an extra seven years thanks to pioneering treatments. He became the longest surviving person in the UK.
Nigel said: "As well as my dad, I have various close relatives and friends also benefitting from The Royal Marsden's pioneering treatments. Chances are some of us may well need their help in the future. In my view, this is a charity fully deserving of our support.
My Dad and myself signed up for a cross-channel windsurf race back in the early 90s, which got cancelled. In a life-changing move, I've now signed up to take part in the biggest windsurfing race in the world at Gruissan Beach in France, around the first week of May, with some 1,300 other windsurfers.
I've since found out there are five 40km heats – so up to 200km – over three or four days! The event is called the 'Défi Wind'. There's absolutely no way I can win, as I'll be up against top pros in the sport, so my aim is simply to finish just one of these 40km races in memory of my dad and to raise money for this very worthwhile cause."
Kent dad Doug Moger recently ran the Virgin Money London Marathon to say thank you to The Royal Marsden for looking after his youngest daughter, Evie, who we treated for acute myeloid leukaemia.
Evie, 5, finished her chemotherapy in July and is now back at school. Doug said: "Our world was turned upside down when Evie was diagnosed. But she was so inspirational and got through it for our family. We received incredible support from family, friends, the local community, my employers and, in particular, the amazing staff at The Royal Marsden, who calmly guided us through what was a terrifying situation.
"I feel blessed that our family is whole once again. I am raising money to say thank you, and hope that I can help in a small way supporting the hospital to continue with their incredible work."
Doug, who also ran the marathon for us in 2015, has already raised more than £2500 for our charity through his efforts.
Amanda Heaton, Head of Community and Corporate Fundraising, said: "Thank you so much to Doug for choosing us as his charity for the Virgin Money London Marathon. The money he raises will help us build a future beyond cancer."
Sponsor Doug on his JustGiving page here.
Forty-year-old Steve Houghton from Ewell took on his first Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 24 April to thank The Royal Marsden for his son's care.
Son Lewis, 7, was diagnosed with stage four Burkitt's lymphoma in February 2015. After six rounds of chemotherapy at The Royal Marsden he went into remission in June 2015 and is now doing well.
Steve, a Sales Director for IQPC, said: "Lewis is an incredible boy – we are in awe of how he has handled all of his treatment with such courage and strength. The side effects of the chemotherapy are sometimes incredibly painful but he fought back thanks to the incredible work of the staff at The Royal Marsden.
"The treatment, care and support Lewis received from the wonderful staff at the hospital has been amazing so we would love to help them to continue to be able to provide such incredible care to the many other children who need it."
So far Steve has surpassed his £2,000 fundraising target, raising £2,461.62 for our charity, while his family's Super Lewis team has together raised more than £30,000, enabling the hospital to fund an additional member of staff to work on its 24-hour parent support line.
Our charity's Director, Antonia Dalmahoy, said: "Thank you so much to Steve for signing up to run The Virgin Money London Marathon for us. Thanks to the Houghtons and their family and friends' fantastic fundraising efforts, they have enabled us to provide support to numerous families during what can be a very difficult time."
You can sponsor Steve on his JustGiving page.
Having already run the Paris, Manchester and Brighton marathons in less than four hours this month, 48-year-old physiotherapist Jim Hopkins will be taking on The Virgin Money London Marathon to thank The Royal Marsden for his son Joseph's care.
Jim's family and friends have already raised over £83,000 for our charity, through sponsored head shaves, walks and whisky tasting.
In May 2014, nine-year-old Joseph was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Joseph was given chemotherapy, radiotherapy and had an operation to remove a tumour. Thanks to The Royal Marsden, he has had the all clear and there is no sign of recurrence.
Jim said: "It has been a life-changing year for us all. Joseph has coped with everything that has been thrown at him admirably, when, at times, he has been very frightened. His treatment has made him feel very unwell, he has lost a lot of weight and most of his hair.
"We have been very fortunate that he has been under the care of The Royal Marsden from the very beginning of his journey. They have all made his treatment as painless as possible, for him and for us, and we are so grateful to them."
Funds raised by 'Joseph 4 the Marsden (J4M)' are being used for a pilot study into treatment for medulloblastoma, an aggressive malignant tumour formed from primitive or poorly developed brain cells. This type of cancer represents 20% of all childhood brain tumours.
"We have set up a fundraising team J4M to give something back to The Royal Marsden, not only to say thank you, but to help other children who aren't as lucky as Joseph. No child should ever have to go through what he has, but with research and expert medical care, more and more children are being cured from cancer," Jim added.
If you would like to sponsor Jim please visit his JustGiving page.
Wild weather and a stampede of cows are only some of the challenges that 31-year-old Katharine Lambert has faced on her 1,361 mile walk around the UK for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The geography and physical education teacher from London selected this challenge to raise over £1,000 for The Royal Marsden as a thank you for looking after her friends and relatives.
Katharine will be completing her treks along some of the UK's longest walking trails during the school holidays. So far she has walked 268 miles along the Pennine Way, 177 miles of Offa's Dyke and 100 miles of the South Downs.
In April 2016, Katharine will hike 186 miles of Pembrokeshire Coast Path, and in July and August 2016 she'll cover as much of the 630 miles South West Coast path as she can.
She carries her equipment in her rucksack and spends some evenings sleeping under the stars. It has taken her two-and-a-half-years to prepare for the trip, saving enough money for equipment and campsites.
Despite her preparations, the challenge hasn't come without its perils; she was chased by a herd of cows on Offa's Dyke and nearly blown off a cliff on the South Downs.
Katharine, who teaches at Cobham Hall in Kent, said: "I'm combining my love of the outdoors with a physical challenge. There have been days when I have been dead on my feet, but I've met such lovely people on the way, which brightens my day. The views and feeling of accomplishment at the end of each day, and remembering why I am doing it keeps me going."
Katharine was inspired to walk for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as she wanted to combine her biological parents' and adoptive mum's passions. Her father taught her to love the outdoors, particularly walking, and her mothers were very supportive of various charities.
Both mothers had breast cancer and her father died of multiple myeloma, and therefore she wanted to fundraise for a cancer charity and complete a walk in their memories.
"Through this challenge I am hoping to raise as much money as I can for a charity that is very close to my heart. The Royal Marsden supported my family and friends while they battled with cancer and also provided superb end of life care and support. From my own personal experience the hospital has helped me through difficult times when my parents and close friends lost their battle with cancer," she added.
Katharine has already surpassed her fundraising target raising over £1,120 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Amanda Heaton, Head of Community and Corporate Fundraising, said: "This mammoth challenge that Katharine is completing is incredible – and it's amazing that she has already surpassed her fundraising target. We are so grateful to her for supporting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Katharine's fundraising will help us build a future beyond cancer."
If you're inspired by Katharine's story, find out how to organise your own sponsored walk.
A Chiswick woman is preparing to walk a 500-mile pilgrim route across Europe in her mother's memory, and to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Laura Green has quit her job as a Product Manager and given up her flat in Chiswick to focus on the challenge and to blog about the highs and lows of her experience through Conversations with Rose.
The 31-year-old, who is originally from South Africa, will walk from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, tracing a route of the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. It will take 32 days and will involve around nine hours of trekking each day.
Laura said: "After watching the film The Way, the idea of walking this route in dedication to my mother started taking shape. Each day I will use my blog to tell the stories of 31 other people who have fought cancer with courage, dignity and at many times, humour.
"Their families are also setting me individual challenges – one family has given me their mother's spaghetti bolognaise recipe and challenged me to make an insane amount to feed other pilgrims along the way."
As well as doing the walk in memory of her mum Rose-Mari, who sadly passed away in 2011 from breast cancer, Laura is using the opportunity to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
"I carried out a lot of research into which charity I should raise money for, and chose this one because of its pioneering work in cancer research, diagnosis, treatment and care to improve the lives of patients throughout the UK and beyond. If I can make a difference to someone else, even at a small scale, then why not do that," says Laura.
She added: "It was the end of the world when my mum passed away but talking about her really helps. I would like to think she would be very proud of me and I hope that the stories I get to tell inspire other people going through something similar."
Amanda Heaton, Head of Community and Corporate Fundraising, said: "We are incredibly grateful to Laura for her amazing dedication and commitment for not only taking on this epic challenge, but also raising funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity."
Laura will start the walk on Wednesday 4 May. To follow her journey, visit www.conversationswithrose.org/storieswetell
To make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/conversationswithrose
Today marks one year since The Royal Marsden became the first hospital in England to introduce the newest model of the da Vinci surgical system, the da Vinci Xi, thanks to a generous donation from The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Since then, the machine has been used to operate on more than 260 patients with sarcoma, breast, gynaecological, gastrointestinal and urological cancers, allowing surgeons to operate with greater accuracy than ever before.
Diagnosed with bowel cancer in February 2012, 58-year-old Rita Hegarty was referred to The Royal Marsden a year later. She was treated with radiotherapy, and on 29 January 2015, became the first patient in England to be treated using the da Vinci Xi robot.
"The most amazing thing about the whole experience was how quickly I recovered," says Rita. "I felt well enough to walk around within five days and was out of hospital pretty quickly. Also, because the robotic procedure was done through keyhole surgery, I have minimal scarring."
Rita, who has two children and five grandchildren, added: "I was nervous about being the first patient, but you just have to trust your consultants and understand that they know what suits your body best. I'm so glad to be alive - I didn't think I would get to meet my two youngest grandchildren."
The robot was donated by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity through philanthropist and loyal supporter Don McCarthy, together with his children, Hannah and John.
In March 2015, The Royal Marsden live-tweeted an operation using the da Vinci Xi to remove the prostate gland of a patient as it was happening. We captured the highlights here.
For more information about the da Vinci Xi, see here.
Natalie Gardner, James Gardner, Ben Hill and Ben Spurway training in the Lake District ahead of their Patagonian Expedition Race.
Four current and former British soldiers are going on adventure like no other, across 500 miles of Chilean wilderness in the Patagonian Expedition Race to fundraise for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Selected to represent the UK from the ballot, 'The Green Sentinels – a team consisting of Natalie Gardner (29), Ben Spurway (43), Ben Hill (25) and James Gardner (21) – will trek, mountain bike and sea kayak across the remote South American landscape for ten days in February 2016. The route will only be presented to the team 24 hours before they start.
Our charity was selected as one of the team's charities as Natalie and James's dad received treatment for melanoma at The Royal Marsden. He passed away from the skin cancer seven-years ago.
"We decided on The Royal Marsden as one of our charities as it's a cause close to our hearts. I saw the amazing work of The Royal Marsden when they looked after my dad and now I get to help to provide the excellent care that they deliver. It's a fantastic organisation and I'm forever grateful for their support," said Natalie who lives in Sutton and runs The Royal Marsden's Respiratory Physiotherapy Department at St Helier Hospital.
"We're incredibly nervous but excited to complete this challenge. Teams often cover hundreds of kilometres without seeing a soul. It is a massive undertaking and we are going to need all the help we can get," she added.
On average, about half of the teams finish the course: in 2013 only 30% of the teams entered completed the race. As the Green Sentinels will face mountains, forests, peats, grasslands, rivers, fjords, lakes and glaciers, the team has been taking their training seriously.
The Green Sentinels are fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, Help the Heroes and Shelter Box.
Find out more about the Green Sentinels on their website, you can sponsor them via their Virgin Money page.
Our President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, toured the NIHR Centre for Molecular Pathology and West Wing Clinical Research Centre today.
Generous legacy donations to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity funded the building of the West Wing Clinical Research Centre. The Charity also contributed towards the funding for the Centre for Molecular Pathology demonstrating the impact of Royal Marsden Cancer Charity supporters from bench to bedside.
During his visit to both these amazing facilities, The Duke spoke to patients involved in clinical trials and heard about the centre's latest breakthroughs in translational cancer research, which turns scientific discoveries into life-saving cancer treatments.
Catch up on some of the photos and tweets from the day with our Storify below.
Eighty-four year old Rosa Kingston from Hertfordshire may only have months to live, but that won't stop her from taking the plunge for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity on Wednesday 14 October.
The great-grandmother, who's ovarian cancer was diagnosed as terminal earlier this year, is doing a sky-dive to raise £10,000 for the charity to say thank you.
Impressed with the excellent care she has received from The Royal Marsden, she decided that she'd like to fundraise for the hospital's charity to help improve the chances of other women surviving the cancer.
Before she started treatment at The Royal Marsden in 2013, Rosa was told that that she had less than two months to live, but has survived longer than expected thanks to the work of the hospital's gynaecological team. Rosa said:
"The Royal Marsden has extended my life by two years. In that time I have experienced much joy including seeing my grandson get married, my granddaughter have her first baby, two of my grandchildren graduate from university and my daughter getting engaged to be married. Words cannot say how grateful I am. It's been a wonderful gift from Professor Gore and his team and all the staff at The Royal Marsden."
"Despite the fact that I would normally be scared stiff to dive from a plane, I plan to take one last leap because I can! I'm really excited about the dive and hope I raise sufficient funds to help future research for this illness, to really make a difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of other women long after I am gone."
Rosa's daughter, UK wellness expert, author and broadcaster Maryon Stewart, said:
"We are so proud of what she's about to do, but it did take us by surprise when she initially announced her plans. My mum is so inspirational and brave, and we are so grateful to The Royal Marsden for the care she has received over the last two years."
The skydive takes place at Hinton Sky Diving Centre, Steane, Brackley, Northamptonshire. To support Rosa and make a donation, visit her JustGiving page. Regular updates on Rosa's preparations can be found on Twitter: @ripchordrosa.
A 22-year-old who beat cancer twice is cycling over 9,000 miles to China to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Starting his 12-month crusade on Sunday 25 October, Tommy Scargill from Warlingham in Surrey has already raised over £1,800 for the hospital's charity as a thank you for looking after him when he was first diagnosed, with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at age four, and when he relapsed at the age of 17. Tommy said:
"I've battled cancer twice and still suffer the side-effects of treatment, but it's a small price to pay for my current good health. The Royal Marsden was superb in the way they helped me and my family get through my diagnosis and treatment. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the hospital."
Tommy will be cycling by himself with only a hammock, tarpaulin, a gas stove, a sleeping bag and a few personal items in his rucksack. His daily budget is set at £3 and he will be relying on the kindness of strangers as he camps and forages for food.
The audio engineering and music production graduate will travel through 15 countries: England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Kazakhstan, before reaching China in 12 months' time.
Tommy chose the challenge after travelling around Asia for seven months and watching a documentary about Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's journey from London to New York City by motorbike. He added:
"I'm both excited and scared. I may face conditions as cold as -25 Celsius, and face being confronted by wolves, bears and even bandits. My family think I'm crazy and they're worried about me, but I want to do something memorable and inspiring for the hospital that saved my life, and to show that whatever you set your heart to, you can achieve."
Tommy will be blogging about his journey on his website. Donations can be made via his JustGiving page.
After the success of the inaugural Le Cure de France – a cycle challenge that took on some of the Tour de France's toughest and most iconic climbs – in 2014, Les Curistas are retuning this September to raise more money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Professor Ian Smith, Head of the Breast Unit at The Royal Marsden, completed the route last year with the friends and family of his patient, Marianne Butler, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Together they raised over £130,000, which funded a Research Fellow at the hospital to carry out a study to identify cancer DNA in blood.
Professor Smith said: "Last year's four day ride through the Alps was a memorable experience for all of us who took part and I am really looking forward to this year's ride.
"Apparently we are going to have to cycle further and higher than last year which will be a challenge, but it will be worthwhile given the enormous sums of money that my fellow cyclists and their friends are raising for our Breast Cancer Research Programme."
This year, more than 60 cyclists are taking part in the event over five days, including Professor Smith and Tour rookie Mr Stuart James, Consultant Plastic Surgeon at The Royal Marsden.
Le Cure de France will be based entirely in the Alps, meaning more vertical metres (13,730m) and more iconic Tour de France climbs. Curistas will take on the highest mountain pass in Europe, the Col de l'Iseran, the mighty Croix de Fer, the infamous 21 switchbacks of Alpe d'Huez and many more.
This time, the team hopes to raise over £250,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. To find out more about Le Cure de France or to make a donation, visit www.lecuredefrance.org
This Sunday will see an amazing team of Royal Marsden cyclists take on the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100. Two riders have kindly shared their stories with us.
"In August 2011 my dad, Peter, started struggling with severe back pain. We hoped that nothing was seriously wrong but on the 8th of September of the same year, my youngest son Harry's fourth birthday, our worst fears were realised and he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Our world was turned upside down but we were ready to support him in the fight.
"He underwent a course of chemotherapy and by Christmas things were looking up. He was on the verge of returning to work and together we had our husband, dad and granddad back.
"Sadly this was not to last, and in March 2012 he was admitted to the Bud Flanagan Ward of The Royal Marsden in Sutton.
"After a couple of months of fantastic treatment and care he was allowed to come home but sadly nothing further could be done.
"He passed away on a beautiful sunny afternoon on 22 May 2012.
"This is not a heartwarming tale of survival – it shows that we need to do more, as much as possible, to help other normal families like ours through difficult times like these and hopefully one day, no one will have to go through this.
"That is why I support The Royal Marsden. They are leading the way in diagnosis, treatment and research and by completing the RideLondon-Surrey 100 I hope that we can get a bit closer to a cancer free world."
Stephen's JustGiving Page
"On 2nd August this year I will be slipping on the Lycra to take part in RideLondon-Surrey 100, a one day 100 mile cycle ride starting at the Olympic Park and making its way through Surrey (via Leith Hill and Box Hill) and then back into London, finishing in the Mall.
"I'm looking to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity which supports the amazing work of The Royal Marsden.
"This has a special meaning for me as my Dad was a patient at The Royal Marsden in Sutton for nearly 10 years – their pioneering treatment undoubtedly lengthened his life by a number of years and we are very grateful for this."
Philip's JustGiving Page
A group of cyclists have raised over £3,500 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity after undertaking a challenge to ride over from London to Paris in just 24 hours.
Grant Fraser and six friends embarked on the 186-mile journey in memory of Grant's mum, who was treated at The Royal Marsden.
Read more about Grant and friends' 24 hour London to Paris cycle challenge
Accounting firm BDO organised their own My Marsden March recently, in memory of former colleague Melissa Gardner.
A huge thank you to Catriona Bunting and team who walked 13 miles, raising nearly £2,000 on their JustGiving page.
Organise your own My Marsden March
This week, fathers and sons are teaming up to help raise awareness around male cancers and to raise money in support of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Father and Son Day was set up by Daniel Marks and Jack Dyson, two friends who have both survived testicular cancer, and whose fathers both had cancer.
The campaign aims to inspire men by celebrating the legacy of respect and admiration that flourishes between inspirational fathers and their sons, between men and their mentors.
Through sharing photos of fathers and their sons, the campaign aims to raise awareness of all male cancers and raise funds for two projects at The Royal Marsden that will have far reaching benefits.
Presenters Dermot O'Leary and Mark Wright as well as Strictly Come Dancing's Aljaž Skorjanec are just a few of the celebrities who have joined our own Royal Marsden clinicians in supporting the campaign.
You can get involved by sharing your own #FatherAndSonDay portrait on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and donating £5. Simply text MARSDEN to 70800 to give £5 and nominate your friends to do the same.
"This campaign is inspired by very personal experience. It is about giving back to an organisation that saved my life and saves thousands more around the world every day. The bond between father and son is one of the most important, rare and powerful friendships many men will ever have. Its strength and power deserves to be celebrated with dignity. We're thrilled to be a catalyst for that and raise funds for such a worthy cause." - Daniel Marks, Co-Founder
"This is about raising funds to support the people at the heart of improving the lives of those men with cancer, making a difference at the frontline of care – somewhere we'll all be at some point. For everyone involved it's about acknowledging a truly special relationship and directing that positivity to something real that will last. " - Jack Dyson, Co-Founder
"Father and Son Day will raise awareness of all male cancers. More importantly it raises funds for two projects that will make a real difference to the care and treatment of cancer patients and the people closest to them." - Cally Palmer, Chief Executive, The Royal Marsden
Find out more about #FatherandSonDay
Three colleagues from The Royal Marsden will be taking on a cycling challenge in support of the hospital this September.
Laura Askins, Joao Duarte and Olivia Smith will be riding 300 miles from London to Paris over four days to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
All three joined The Royal Marsden last year, with Olivia and Laura working in Nutrition and Dietetics and Jo in the Head and Neck unit.
Speaking about their challenge, Olivia said: "Laura, Jo and I started working at The Royal Marsden in October 2014. Since this time we have loved every minute of being involved in such an amazing hospital.
"We all feel very proud to be able to contribute to the excellent care provided by The Royal Marsden and have decided to take on the London to Paris cycle challenge as part of this."
The trio have arranged a cake sale to support their fundraising in the main entrance of the Chelsea hospital on Monday 22nd June and are also planning a bikeathon on Thursday 2nd July.
To find out more or sponsor Laura, Jo and Olivia go to their JustGiving page.
This past weekend saw the 2015 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) - the most important oncology conference globally, which brings together 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world.
As a world-leading cancer centre specialising in diagnosis, treatment, care, education and research, The Royal Marsden has a leading presence each year to present new data from trials that our oncologists have either led on or been involved with.
Below is a summary of the key abstracts from our oncologists that has attracted global media coverage.
Dr James Larkin is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden specialising in the treatment of patients with cancer of the kidney and cancers of the skin, including melanoma.
He is the lead author of a phase III trial – called CheckMate 067 – which discovered that immune-boosting drugs ipilimumab and nivolumab combined have stopped melanoma cancer advancing for nearly a year in 58% of cases.
Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer and kills more than 2,000 people in Britain each year. Immunotherapy harnesses the body's immune system to attack cancerous cells.
The so-called "double hit" treatment helped shrink tumours or bring them under control in 58% of people with advanced melanoma - allowing patients to live 11.5 months without tumours growing.
Dr Larkin told the BBC: "By giving these drugs together you are effectively taking two brakes off the immune system rather than one so the immune system is able to recognise tumours it wasn't previously recognising and react to that and destroy them."
He added: "For immunotherapies, we've never seen tumour shrinkage rates over 50% so that's very significant to see. This is a treatment modality that I think is going to have a big future for the treatment of cancer."
Professor Martin Gore, The Royal Marsden's Medical Director, is also a co-investigator for this trial. The Royal Marsden is the leading global recruiter for this study.
Read some of the media coverage around this study from The Guardian, BBC News, ITV News and The Daily Telegraph.
Dr Nicholas Turner is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden and a team leader at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) who specialises in the treatment of breast cancer.
He is the lead author for PALOMA3 – a phase III trial that has seen breast cancer drug, palbociclib, have a marked benefit in second-line treatment, delaying disease progression by roughly five months.
"After initial hormone therapy stops working in metastatic breast cancer, the next step is typically chemotherapy, which can be effective but the side effects are often very difficult for women," said Dr Turner.
"This relatively easy-to-take new drug can substantially delay the point when women need to start chemotherapy, making this an exciting new approach for women."
Read coverage around the study from The Daily Mail.
The Royal Marsden is proud to support the NIHR International Clinical Trials Day this week.
The OK to ask campaign on Wednesday 20 May is encouraging patients to ask their GP or clinician about their eligibility to join a clinical trial. The Royal Marsden undertakes a large number of clinical studies every year, with approximately 800 studies open at any one time and around 170 new ones opening every year.
Professor David Cunningham, Director of Clinical Research, said: "Clinical studies has hugely benefited some of our patients and offered them further options when standard treatment has stopped working. Clinical studies help us treat cancer patient today as well as map out treatment for the future."
Patient Richard Heading supports the NIHR's International Clinical Trials Day. He said: "I did not think I would see my six year old daughter's fifth birthday and I am still here thanks to a clinical drugs trial. I was diagnosed with melanoma a couple of years ago and I have since been able to travel and spend valuable time with my family."
Find out more about how we fund research at The Royal Marsden
A huge thank you to all the Karate students who participated in the 1,000 Techniques for Evie, organised by Paul Hacker of The Honbu in Wincanton, Somerset.
Several clubs in the UK offered their support, including South Mitcham Karate Club, Lydd Karate Club, Queen Camel Karate Club and Merriott Karate Club. In total, the appeal has raised £4,500 – thank you to all the students who worked so hard to raise such an amazing sum.
This Sunday will see an amazing team of Royal Marsden runners take on the London Marathon.
Julian is raising money for The Royal Marsden after his daughter Steffi was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Julian begins the first of seven marathons in seven days today, finishing with the race on Sunday.
"On 29 November 2013 Steffi was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – cancer of the blood or bone marrow. She was 23 months old. Since then, life has changed enormously and she has been (and is currently going) through so much. Her treatment is intense, long and life-changing. Some days are good and some less so but she is showing remarkable courage and humour throughout her ordeal.
"Each marathon will be a route in and around London and Surrey and I hope to have friends (they will differ each day!) running alongside me for part of or all of each marathon. Steffi will still have 12 months of treatment left to go come April, but now feels like the right time to undertake this challenge. Steffi is being treated by the wonderful doctors and nurses at The Royal Marsden. The care they have provided has been nothing less than fantastic. Whatever pain I have to overcome to complete seven marathons in seven days will be nothing compared to what my beautiful daughter has bravely faced every day since her diagnosis. She is the reason I am raising money for The Royal Marsden."
Chris is running after his dad was treated at the hospital.
"Back in 1980 my Dad was treated at The Royal Marsden in Sutton for a secondary cancer in his lungs. The Royal Marsden used a new regime of treatment which fortunately for my Dad was successful. He made a good recovery and was able get back to a normal life marrying my Mum and starting a family. Luckily for me and my brother, The Royal Marsden were there for my family in these difficult times and I feel by running for them I will be showing our thanks to all the doctors, nurses and staff who help other families in need."
Robert is running the marathon to raise money for The Royal Marsden after his sister Rebecca was diagnosed with NET cancer in 2013 and his nephew, Rebecca's son Harry was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2014.
"When Rebecca was being treated, I completed the London to Brighton bike ride raising over £5,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Soon after Harry was diagnosed with ALL in February last year, we established Team Harry. Team Harry is a collective of family, friends and supporters who have been moved by Harry's journey through his diagnosis and treatment for ALL. Team Harry are not only a wonderful supportive network, but also a highly motivated team of individuals who have raised over £32,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to date, through a series of events ranging from cake sales and children's fun runs through to mud runs and the ride 100, with planned marathons and a Lands End to John O'Groats bicycle ride to come.
"I am running the marathon to continue this good work and demonstrate my commitment to Rebecca and Harry, who have both been incredibly brave and positive through a time when it would have been so easy to have not been. In running the London marathon I hope to increase the funds raised by Team Harry so far, which will contribute towards enabling The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to create a future without cancer."
To donate to the team text RMLM263 to 70070 to make a £3 donation.
Rachel is running the London marathon in support of The Royal Marsden after being diagnosed with a rare cancer of the salivary gland, adenoid cystic carcinoma.
"I was so so chuffed to hear my name read out at my run club Felixstowe Road Runners when the draw took place for their London marathon places in October 2014. It came at a time when I needed something to focus on as I was under the ENT department at the local hospital having investigations into a lump in my neck and was worried as the doctors had started mentioning the words biopsy, surgery and cancer.
"I had the lump removed in December and was back to my training within two weeks, just in time to start marathon training. Then on 7 January 2015 when I returned to hospital for my follow up appointment I was diagnosed with a rare cancer of the salivary gland, adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). My treatment was discussed and further surgery followed by radiotherapy was suggested. I remember saying at the end of the appointment 'I guess that's the end of my marathon then'. I asked to be referred to a specialist at The Royal Marsden where they not only see ACC all the time, they also fund research into new treatments for it as it doesn't respond well to the conventional treatments.
"At the end of this appointment I asked 'As it is slow-growing could I delay my treatment until after the marathon?' My consultant said yes, which was great news! I do feel that I am doing something different, maybe something that is worth donating for. Although I don't feel ill with this cancer and keeping up with swimming, biking and running has been a great help, it has been incredibly stressful which has meant that I can't push myself physically like I usually do. I also will probably be having surgery two days after running London so I need to be able to do it and not be totally knackered! So my goals have changed, I am no longer going to try and run a sub four hour marathon, I am just aiming to do it and have a great time in the process!"
The Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook will be hitting all good bookstores from Thursday,19 February, with 50% of profits being donated to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The book features a number of delicious and healthy recipes, many from celebrity chefs such as Mary Berry, Nigella Lawson and Prue Leith, whose Muscovado Heaven recipe (pictured) can be found below. All recipes have been selected to be suitable for patients during and after cancer treatment.
It is introduced and edited by Dr Clare Shaw, Consultant Dietitian at The Royal Marsden and published by Kyle Books.
Dr Shaw will be appearing on the BBC World Service programme Health Check tonight, Wednesday 18 February. It will be available afterwards online.
This is possibly the easiest dessert you will ever make. You can use any fresh fruit or compote, or even canned fruit, which takes even less preparation. Prue says it is particularly delicious with fresh mango or passionfruit, but use whatever takes your fancy. If you want to serve this with a biscuit, a gingery one would work well.
Serves two
Divide the fruit between two glass dishes or large ramekins. Mix together the double cream and Greek yoghurt, until well combined and thick, but not set. Spoon this over the fruit.
Sprinkle the sugar over the cream and yoghurt. You will need to do this in a very thick layer. Put in the fridge to chill for around 30 minutes. The sugar will dissolve into a dark lake. To introduce a little crunch, sprinkle over a little more sugar or eat with a thin, sweet biscuit.
Buy the cookbook online here.
At 9pm on BBC One this Wednesday, The Royal Marsden, along with our academic research partner the Institute of Cancer Research, are the focus of a Panorama special, Can you cure my cancer?
The programme explores the pioneering work of the Drug Development Unit, led by Professor Johann de Bono and follows seven patients and their journeys on clinical trials, offering the hope of life-extending treatments that could give them more quality time with their families.
Find out more about the programme
The Royal Marsden has become the first hospital in England to get the newest model of the da Vinci surgical system which is used in the pioneering treatment of cancer patients.
The da Vinci Xi is a newer, more modern model and its robotic arms can move independently of the main body of the robot. This feature facilitates operating on multiple areas of the body; this is often required when dealing with advanced cancers.
The new robot was donated by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, through philanthropist and loyal supporter Don McCarthy, together with his children, Hannah and John.
Don said: "The Royal Marsden provided an excellent standard of care when my wife Diane was ill and it is really important to us to give something back. It's great to know that our donation has gone towards some really exciting technology that will hugely benefit patients. Donating to such a wonderful cause is a fantastic way of ensuring the legacy of my late wife lives on and helps others in some way."
The new da Vinci robot will be supported by a new robotic fellowship which could train up to 30 multi-disciplinary surgeons of the future in robotic surgery over the next 10 years. The da Vinci's dual console facilitates this exclusive training and will allow trainee involvement on actual operations from day one, with complete patient safety.
Spilling the Beans is a collection of short stories from an Amersham creative writing group that is being sold in aid of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The book is available in paperback or eBook form and costs £5.99 and £4.99 respectively.
For more information and to order visit www.spillingthebeans.org.uk.
We are thrilled to announce that £180,000 was raised for paediatric palliative care at The Royal Marsden thanks to The Wellesley and The Caroline Menez Charitable Trust.
Two evenings of fundraising were hosted by Mr. Khalid Affara in the beautiful Jazz Lounge of his hotel The Wellesley in November and featured live entertainment and an auction. Dr AK Anderson spoke to guests about the importance of research in paediatric palliative care and guests heard from Maurice Menez about why he and his wife Lucia are supporting the team in memory of their daughter.
The Caroline Menez Trust and The Wellesley were hoping to raise £90,000 for a new paediatric palliative research nurse and fantastically doubled their target. All the funds raised will help the paediatric palliative care team develop research in pain management for young patients with cancer.
Patient Charlie Young organised a charity ball 'Balls to Cancer' at his old school, Wellington College on Saturday 18 October. The event was a huge success raising over £43,000 and included video messages from celebrities including Sir Steve Redgrave, Will Greenwood, Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell who pledged £5,000.
Over 240 guests attended the event and auction prizes included X factor tickets, rugby tickets and a villa in Turkey. The guests were treated to speeches from Sir Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington, and Charlie's lead consultant, Dr Robert Huddart.
Charlie was diagnosed with testicular cancer in October 2012, one month after proposing to his fiancée Jessica. "I was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer which had spread to my tummy, neck and chest. I initially had four rounds of chemotherapy followed by two operations only for the cancer return six months later.
"Given the amazing support I have been given by this incredible hospital, my family and I wanted to give something back to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. It started with my parents Kathryn and Allen doing The Marsden March in 2013. My older sister Lizzie then competed in the Henley half iron man followed by my younger sister Becky and my cousin Sarah running this year's London Marathon."
In total the family has now raised over £80,000 and are planning more fundraising events.
You can donate to their JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/Kathryn-Young1.
Thanks to everyone who cooked, climbed, cycled and got creative for The Big C Challenge this September.
Supporters, staff and celebrities all got involved doing something beginning with C. Staff from Outpatients and the Rapid Diagnostic and Assessment Centre (RDAC) climbed The O2 for their challenge, while Professor Ian Smith, Head of the Breast Unit, cycled with the friends and family of one of his patients.
Biscuiteers, in Notting Hill, designed a special Big C Challenge biscuit for the front cover of our Progress magazine. They also provided a tasty cupcake recipe.
More than 70 celebrities helped to highlight the campaign on social media by taking C-selfies, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Ricky Gervais, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Dannii Minogue and Fearne Cotton.
Amanda Heaton, Community and Corporate Fundraising Manager for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, said: "It's been amazing to see so many people taking on a variety of challenges for The Big C Challenge. Thank you to all our staff, patients and supporters within the community who have taken part."
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity is pleased to be the chosen beneficiary of the partnership between The Caroline Menez Trust and The Wellesley in Knightsbridge.
The Caroline Menez Trust was founded in 2002 to remember and celebrate the life of Caroline. Caroline lost her battle with cancer in 1999 aged just 12. Through The Caroline Menez Trust, Caroline's parents are committed to improving the lives of young people diagnosed with cancer and funding research in children's palliative care at The Royal Marsden.
In November The Wellesley in Knightsbridge will host two fundraising evenings to fund a Caroline Menez paediatric palliative research nurse for three years.
Challenge cancer this September!
Imagine a future beyond cancer. At The Royal Marsden we are dedicated to making this happen. Supporting The Royal Marsden is a great way to challenge cancer – we pioneer new groundbreaking treatments and the revolutionary way we treat people with cancer has a far reaching impact, both nationally and internationally.
To help us continue to be at the forefront of cancer treatment, care and research, join The Big C Challenge this September. Simply take on a challenge beginning with C and get sponsored to achieve it. The more of us that challenge the Big C in this way, the closer we get to building a future beyond cancer for all of us.
Professor Ian Smith, head of the Breast Unit at The Royal Marsden, will be heading off to France on a monumental cycling challenge this September with a team put together by a patient and her friends.
The group will be tackling four tough mountain climbs that feature in the Tour de France over five days, and are raising money to help fund ongoing trials to help treat and prevent breast cancer.
Find out more about the group and what they're up against, including donation information, at lecuredefrance.org.
Supporter Ella Meadon has recorded a beautiful version of Dream A Little Dream which she is selling on iTunes for 79p, raising money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Ella says: "Through both family and friends I have had a close connection to The Royal Marsden for several years. I know both people who work there and people who have been treated there and I have nothing but admiration for their skilful work and loving patient care.
I wanted to produce something personal and special to raise money for the hospital ."
Ella's friend Jack Walters plays guitar on the track which you can download here.
She also has a JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/ella-meadon.
Ali Collins, one of the top under-14 players in the UK and a scholar at Beaconhurst School in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, met Elena Baltacha last year. The tennis world was devastated when she died from liver cancer and Ali organised the Rally 4 Bally event – a 12-hour tennis marathon – at her school to raise money for the charities Baltacha supported.
Judy Murray came along to support the day and spent some time on court with the kids.
The event raised £1,216 and Ali is keen to make it an annual fundraiser.
Play specialists working with young patients at the Oak Centre for Children and Young People were thrilled to receive a generous donation from Cheam Rotary today.
The club donated more than £5,000 to buy play equipment, including two specialist Medikin dolls. The play specialists use these dolls to help explain to the children what will happen to them during their cancer treatment.
Marcel Markan, Club President, said: "We are delighted that our fundraising has helped buy such worthwhile equipment for the play specialists to use to help the young patients' treatment."
If your Rotary Club would like to support The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity then please call Janet on 020 8915 6105 or email [email protected].
The new West Wing Clinical Research Centre brings patients on both early-phase and late-phase clinical trials together in one space.
The new £2.6 million centre, funded by legacies left by generous supporters of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, includes treatment bays, consulting rooms, a dedicated on-site laboratory and a pharmacy room.
The Matron, Angela Little, said "Until now, patients on late-phase studies would be seen around the hospital, but the new West Wing Clinical Research Centre will improve efficiency, bringing trial patients to one area of the hospital."
The centre is another example of how we are constantly investing in our research infrastructure, delivering personalised medicine and translating scientific findings into clinical care.
Read more about cancer research
Mandie Adams McGuire (on the right in the photo above), a long-term supporter of The Royal Marsden and chairman of The David Adams Leukaemia Appeal Fund, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2014.
Mandie's late husband David Adams was diagnosed with Leukaemia in July 1989 and was treated at The Royal Marsden. David and Mandie fundraised for the hospital throughout his illness, and Mandie has continued this work since his death.
Congratulations, Mandie, from everyone at The Royal Marsden, and thank you for your continued support.
A big thank you to all the staff at Southern Rail who have finished their two year Corporate partnership with The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity by donating £794.
Over the last two years Southern Rail staff have all gone the extra mile for the charity by organising and taking part in a number of fundraising events, including those that braved the 10,000 feet drop and took part in a parachute jump, to those that got on their static bikes and cycled the entire length of the Southern rail network.
They have all been amazing and we would like to thank them for raising over £33,000 in total!
HRH The Duke of Cambridge, President of The Royal Marsden, hosted a gala dinner last night at Windsor Castle to celebrate the innovative work of The Royal Marsden.
Read full story
Walkers Bulbs will be launching a new variety of daffodil at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on Monday, 19 May 2014 named Georgie Boy to commemorate the birth of HRH Prince George of Cambridge.
£2.50 from every 10 bulbs sold will be donated to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Roger Taylor, a Director of the family owned Taylors Bulbs, added: "We look forward to this variety becoming a favourite for garden use and raising valuable funds for The Royal Marsden."
The bulbs can be bought at www.bulbs.co.uk/royal-chelsea-daffodil.
The Long Walk. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014. Photographer: Edward Staines
We're incredibly excited to be holding a gala dinner at Windsor Castle next week to celebrate the innovative work of The Royal Marsden. The event will be attended by the hospital's philanthropic supporters and trustees of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity all in the presence of our president, HRH The Duke of Cambridge.
Also attending will be global breast cancer supporter Mr Ralph Lauren, Kate Moss, Mario Testino, Helena Bonham-Carter, Benedict Cumberbatch and Cara Delevingne.
To finish the evening, the British award-winning singer songwriter, Emeli Sandé, will perform a short acoustic set.
Huge thanks to Teresa Care and Sidcup Leisure Centre for organising an aerobathon in memory of Bea Bonner. Over 60 people came to support the event.
Registration fees, a raffle (with a designer handbag and TK Maxx vouchers among the prizes) and sponsorship money allowed the event to raise over £1,500 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Goldsmiths, the jewellers, have produced a special sterling silver friendship bracelet for their partnership with The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, with all profits being donated to us.
The bracelet, shown above, retails at £29 and a launch party will take place at Goldsmiths Victoria on Saturday, 3 May 2014 with live entertainment and family fun.
If you'd like to attend, please contact Ben Williams at [email protected].
View the invite
(L–R: Charlie and Rebecca, Kerry, Aimee, Georgie)
Over 80 people are running the London Marathon for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity this Sunday and we want to say a big thank you in advance to all of them.
Everyone has their own reason for taking part. Here are four of our runners, in their own words, sharing their stories.
You can support all our London Marathon runners by texting RMLM263 to 70070 to give £3 or making a donation on this website.
My bother Charlie was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer in October 2012, aged 30, and has been treated at The Royal Marsden over the last 15 months. Charlie underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy and three major operations to remove the tumours which had spread around his body.
Unfortunately in July 2013, he suffered a relapse as the cancer had come back aggressively in his neck and chest. Charlie has since undertaken five cycles of high-dose chemotherapy, which also involves stem cell replacement. Following this, Charlie has made a good recovery and was well enough to marry his wife Jess in a wonderful wedding in Australia. Charlie has been incredibly brave and upbeat throughout the entire process, never losing his ability to wind up his sister!
The pioneering techniques Charlie has been fortunate enough to be treated with exist due to the outstanding research conducted by The Royal Marsden and other cancer hospitals around the world. It is a fantastic hospital and has provided both Charlie and my family with incredible care and treatment throughout the treatment.
2014 marks 10 years since I underwent life-changing and life-saving surgery at The Royal Marsden and it is also the year that I shall attempt to run the London Marathon.
As a BRCA1 carrier I have a genetic predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer, and aged 24 I became the youngest person at that time to have pioneering preventative surgery. Where I led, Angelina Jolie has followed!
2014 is also the year I turn 35, the same age that my mum lost her battle with breast cancer. Whilst I inherited her love of life, mum's natural athleticism has escaped me and I have no doubt that this 26.2 mile event will be my most difficult challenge to date (my running career only really starting in June 2013!) I do however have a stubborn streak, an amazing group of supportive friends and family and a new found love of lycra and trainers on my side. I am confident that I will cross that finish line and I am hopeful that I will do so in one piece.
I hope that through this run I can raise funds and give something back to the incredible Royal Marsden, paying homage to the amazing staff of surgeons, doctors, nurses, geneticists, researchers and cake makers there that have taken such great care of me and my family since 1998.
This is my second marathon. I've always wanted to run the London Marathon and I was lucky enough to receive a ballot place. As I got a ballot place I didn't need to raise money but I thought as I will be running 26.2 miles raising a bit of money can't hurt.
I chose The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as my father suffers from a condition called CLL. This is a manageable form of leukaemia, but requires regular check ups to monitor his progress. I also know several other people who have been looked after at The Royal Marsden.
I'm 20 and I live in Hampshire. When I was four years old I was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in my jaw. I was too young to really understand what this meant or how ill I was but my parents and family were the people who really had to face difficulty through this time.
Not only did The Royal Marsden save my life, the team gave hope and support to my family and brother and kept my family going through an undoubtedly scary time. I will never be able to say thank you enough for what the hospital has done for me and for all the opportunities in life I have been fortunate enough to have as a result of such brilliant care.
What many people don't realise is that you are a patient for life once you have had cancer and fundraising for the hospital is so important to keep this brilliant care going. I'm hoping that running the marathon will be able to generate funds to help families and sick children who are currently going through what I did.
Please help us avert a potential disaster at the Oak Centre for Children and Young People. Each year we usually have hundreds of Easter eggs donated to us but for some reason they haven't materialised this year.
Could you donate an Easter egg? Or if you are supplier, wholesaler or manufacturer, could you deliver a batch of eggs? We need about 250 to make sure all our young patients have a chocolatey treat this Easter.
If you can help please email [email protected] or call her on 020 8661 3391. We would prefer you to hand-deliver your gift to the Fundraising Office in our Sutton hospital if possible.
If you're feeling inspired by them, details for Brighton Marathon 2015 are available now.
Supporter and patient Daniel Jackson will be running the Brighton Marathon for us this Sunday, 6 April, two years after learning some life-changing news:
"In 2012 I was told I had a type of facial cancer. I was treated at The Royal Marsden, they gave me a second chance in life. I am running this marathon to support them, their work and say a thank you for giving me a chance to see my kids grow up."
He will wear an eyepatch on the day designed by a pupil at his old school.
Daniel writes a candid blog about his experiences called igoggle. He also has a JustGiving page if you'd like to donate.
See more at www.justgiving.com/Daniel-Jackson5
Recently we were very lucky to attend Holland Park School's performance of Hamlet. The school is a long-term supporter and their latest fundraising event was truly memorable.
The school's Leadership Team and a fine selection of talented English teachers put on an innovative production of Hamlet. The backdrop was part gritty detective saga, part Royal Ascot, combining Wallander and Shakespeare in a hitherto unknown and highly original pairing. All proceeds will be donated to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity - thank you to everyone involved.
We must say a huge thank you to In Ricky We Trust for their £5,000 donation to the games room (known as the Hub) at the Oak Centre for Children and Young People.
The money was originally a gift from the Santander Foundation. Vikram Deb, trustee and founder of In Ricky We Trust, decided it should go to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity because they wanted to "make a real difference to youngsters suffering from cancer."
As we were making our final preparations for The Marsden March this Sunday, we had an email about a wonderful event that took place down under a few days ago.
The Aussie Penn Patrol completed a 14km walk on 9 March, starting at Lennox Head Surf Club (Lake Ainsworth) to The Shaws Bay Hotel Ballina, raising a magnificent $1209.40.
There is a JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/Elisa-Penn and the group also posted a video of the day on YouTube.
If you're inspired to do your own My Marsden March then check out this page.
Congratulations to a team of 'Nuts Runners' who took part in the nuts run in Dorking on Saturday 1 March.
The 7km course was very muddy and with 100 Army style obstacles, a really tough challenge. The team of 27 are raising funds in support of their friend Sadie and have raised over £12,000 so far.
Visit Sadie's fundraising page.
With the Spring weather comes thoughts of last year's wonderful Rally Against Cancer event with British doubles player Ross Hutchins.
Bedfordshire University's tennis club was inspired to do some fundraising for us recently on World Tennis Day with a timed touchtennis tournament and demo sessions of wheelchair tennis, cardio tennis and touchtennis.
Watch a video of the day on YouTube.
Thanks to University of Bedfordshire Tennis for their generous support.
Family and friends of the Carnevale family held a "Pig Racing" night in memory of Bruna Carnevale Abbas, who passed away a year and half ago from kidney cancer.
Bruna was such an avid fundraiser for The Royal Marsden and her brother, Luigi Carnevale and cousin, Alex Vainella came up with this fun night of charity gambling to make it a joyful event - exactly how Bruna would have wanted it.
There were over 200 people in attendance and it was a fabulous and fun evening for all.
Donations are still being accepted at www.justgiving.com/Pig-Race-Night.
We are delighted to announce two new corporate partners.
Law firm Mayer Brown LLP and camera company Nikon UK (Kingston Office) have both chosen us at their Charity of the Year and we look forward to working with them both during 2014.
If your company is interested in working with The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity please get in touch.
Six months after a pilot study began of a new 'oncogenetic' gene testing pathway began at the Translational Genetics Laboratory (TGL), more than 100 Royal Marsden cancer patients have now benefitted from BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene tests.
The 'oncogenetic' pathway brings gene testing directly to the patient through their existing oncology appointments. Previously, patients could only have a gene test via referral to genetics departments. The 'oncogenetic' pathway allows members of the cancer team who have completed online training to order gene tests for eligible patients directly, but retains the flexibility to refer patients to genetics if more detailed discussions will be helpful.
The new laboratory test and clinical testing pathway are now ready for roll-out to other hospitals and a second pilot involving more centres is in planning.
Professor Nazneen Rahman, Head of the Cancer Genetics Clinical Unit at The Royal Marsden said: "Ultimately we hope that the clinical and technological advancements we are developing will be able to benefit patients anywhere in the NHS"
Last December we recognised Linda Deadman and Jan Waghorn, Quiz Masters Extraordinaire, for their achievements in running weekly pub quizzes for 10 years. They have raised another £7,000+ in 2013 bringing the grand total to £49,000!
These two ladies have never repeated a question and have gained the support of over 80 people on a weekly basis. Not only have they prepared quizzes, they have also secured raffle prizes week after week for 11 years and counting.
Our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Linda and Jan, and to the Abbey Hotel on the Isle of Sheppey, for all their hard work and dedication.
Thank you to the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund for their recent donation of £20,000. This generous gift will support research and education into the prevention, causes and cure of melanoma, such as the work of Dr James Larkin.
James and his team at The Royal Marsden have been responsible for some of the biggest national breakthroughs in the treatment of advanced melanoma in the last 30 years. In particular two drugs they helped pioneer, vemurafenib and ipilimumab, have heralded a new age in skin cancer treatment and seen a significant improvement in the survival outcomes for patients with advanced melanoma.
Not only does James's research help Royal Marsden patients who are on the trials, these drugs are now being used to treat patients right across the country.
The film above from the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund is all about checking moles for the signs of skin cancer. It features Julia Bradbury and our very own Dr Louise Fearfield.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity has joined forces with The O2 and its ticketing platform AXS.com in a groundbreaking charity partnership.
The partnership, which coincides with the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, will see The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity become a charity partner of The O2 for the next three years.
Whenever customers purchase tickets through AXS.com to the venue's events they will be encouraged to support the charity by making a donation. The O2 welcomes more than eight million visitors a year, which will give the charity the opportunity to raise awareness and funds from a captive and engaged audience.
The timing of the start of the partnership also continues the relationship between the charity and the world of tennis. Earlier this year, the Aegon Championships, the Lawn Tennis Association, Ross Hutchins, Andy Murray and many others staged Rally Against Cancer which was a huge fundraising success.
Thank you to supporters at CBRE's London Bow Street office who hosted a sugar-fuelled charity day. Staff there took part in range of activities - as well as home-baked goods and boxes of doughnuts for sale, there was sweepstake on the evening's England v Montenegro football match and a contribution to dress down for the day.
All in all, the 50 staff, from various areas of the property services business, raised £178. Thank you all!
Thank you to Katherine Jenkins and her team members Hannah, Gavin and Aimee for supporting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon.
Katherine was the race ambassador this year and represented The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity raising an amazing amount of over £3,000, including £400 donated by a fan for her running vest.
She said: "A friend of mine has a very young granddaughter who has been recently diagnosed with cancer and as a result is being looked after by the wonderful staff at The Royal Marsden. I know that many families are touched by cancer as mine was with my father. However I cannot imagine how terrifying this must be in somebody so young and that is why I wanted to do something to help."
Thank you Katherine for your support!
Former colleagues of respected Civil Servant Liz Lambert MBE, who served five Prime Ministers at 10 Downing Street, have been paying tribute with a series of fundraising events.
Liz's family – David, Jamie and Louise together with her nieces Helen, Kim and Anna – took part in this year's Marsden March raising £2,435 while her former colleagues in Downing Street have raised in excess of £8,200 in just one year.
Such was the respect people had for Liz, sponsors have included current and former Prime Ministers, Ambassadors and members of the House of Lords.
Thank you for your continued support.
Conference calling service Powwow Now recently completed a triathlon from John O'Groats to Lands End – all without leaving their office!
The company blocked out 20 minute, 30 minute and hour long sessions with team members taking it in turns to cover certain distances on a rower, treadmill and bikes.
Thanks so much for all your efforts!
Former British tennis no.1 Tim Henman joined supporters at a 'City Challenge Golf Day' at Sunningdale.
On the day Tim played with Tony Lewis, a current patient of Professor Ian Judson at The Royal Marsden, before joining the other teams for lunch and prize-giving.
Tim said: "Rally Against Cancer was such a great event and a great opportunity to raise money for a fantastic cause. The Royal Marsden makes such a difference to so many people so I was pleased to be able to support it once more, particularly on the golf course!"
Tony Lewis, who has supported The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity through the annual Sunningdale golf day for the past 11 years, said it was another marvellous event, boosted by the attendance of such a high-profile celebrity golfer.
"Tim was a fantastic representative for Great Britain on the tennis court and he is also a fantastic golfer, putting many of us to shame on the day with a spectacular round!
"With his help, we managed to raise over £70,000 this year, and hope to continue raising funds for such a marvellous hospital."
Four top chefs will be cooking a fabulous four course dinner next Monday, 14 October with profits from the evening going towards two charities, including The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The dinner costs £85 and will be held at Plateau in Canary Wharf.
Book tickets now by emailing [email protected].
Thank you to all the trainee solicitors at Charles Russell who braved a wet September day to support us as part of Charles Russell's Charity of the Year fundraising. They took part in a team challenge following a series of clues which took them out and about in the streets of London.
The trainees seemed to have a great day, full of fun and adventures. We loved seeing the photos and judging was hard as they all did such a great job making people smile and raising the profile of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Radio and television presenter Denise Van Outen has raised over £15,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer charity by walking the Great Wall of China.
Denise made a long-standing promise to her best friend Tamara Edwards and her family that she would tackle this challenge with them and raise money for The Royal Marsden where Tamara's dad Michael was treated for leukaemia. He passed away last year.
The idea came when Michael's wife Christine told her she was devastated that the childhood sweethearts had never managed to make their dream trip together. They had saved all their lives to go off and travel in their retirement and she was heartbroken they never made it to the Great Wall of China together. So Denise made the pledge to do it in memory of Michael. Denise said "I felt it was something positive to do and would give everyone a focus and doing this trek to the Great Wall of China was a great way to raise money for The Royal Marsden for all the great work they do."
We would like to say a big thank you to Denise and her team.
Find out how you can follow in the footsteps of Denise Van Outen and walk the Great Wall of China for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity next SeptemberFind out more
On 5 September the first ever 'Every Day Counts' charity dinner and auction was held at the Bloomsbury Ballroom with over 300 people from the UK children's television industry attending.
They were there to show their support for Marie Chappelow, who 18 months ago was diagnosed with advanced and incurable cancer.
Hosted by Anna Williamson (Nickelodeon, ITV) and MCed by Phil Gallagher (Mister Maker), the night also featured a surprise guest appearance by actor Warwick Davis, who very kindly auctioned an actual piece of the Star Wars Death Star. An evening characterised by both the generosity of donors and those bidding culminated with a stay on Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island being sold for £19,000.
At the end of a memorable night over £90,000 was raised for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Marie and her husband Peter Drake would like to thank everyone who helped, supported and made the night happen.
Charles Russell LLP partners and staff continue with their fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The most recent event was a skydive undertaken by 10 members of staff at Headcorn Airfield.
Charles Russell has been supporting the charity since the beginning of 2013 and the parachute jump was just one more of the challenges undertaken by staff.
Charles Russell LLP Senior Partner Christopher Page said: "Many congratulations to this latest group from the firm who took our fundraising activities to new heights! It is so very rewarding to know that people will make such an effort in support of the work at The Royal Marsden."
Many thanks to all involved. If you'd like to do your own jump, more details can be found on our parachute page.
Collision Spectrum, a band formed to raise money for terminally ill children treated at The Royal Marsden, have released a single with all proceeds going to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The track, Animals, can be heard on YouTube and bought via the iTunes store.
Thank you to Sarah Tetley Hall, her son Leopold and artist Araha Kaviani for hosting a wonderful fundraising dinner and concert evening at the Château D'Arnac. The guests, from France and England, helped raise a fantastic £1,200.Find out more about hosting you own event like this
Denise Van Outen made a longstanding promise to best friend Tamara Edwards and her family that she would tackle the Great Wall of China with them to raise money for The Royal Marsden, where Tamara's dad Michael passed away from leukaemia last year.
Tamara said "I am walking the Great wall of China for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity because of the great work The Royal Marsden do. We are thrilled to have the support of Denise Van Outen and looking forward to her visit to the hospital very soon."
The team has already started fundraising on JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/DeniseVanOutenChina
You can follow in her footsteps. Find out more about our treks and hikes.
Supporter Ricky Fagan has raised an amazing sum of £7,077 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity with a Golf Day at Buckinghamshire Golf Club.
The cheque was accepted on our behalf by champion Irish golfer, John O'Leary.
Many thanks to all involved.
A huge thank you to Natta Group for raising £4,500 through their annual Charity golf day organised in memory and honour of Mrs Pat Whelan.
This wonderful sum presented by Ms Jo Whelan will be for the benefit of The Oak Centre for Children and Young People.
Two Hampshire schools have joined together in fundraising challenges after Tyler White, an ex-pupil was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.
Pupils and staff from Connaught School in Aldershot and Calthorpe School in Fleet had a series of cake sales and non-uniform days, as well as taking on the Three Peaks challenge, chronicled on Tyler's blog.
Both schools would like to send their thanks to all the parents and friends who gave so generously. If you would like to contribute, you can do so at www.justgiving.com/CC3YP.
A primary school in Eastbourne was so inspired by our Rally Against Cancer event that they decided to host their own event, trying to hit as many rallies as they could with their teacher.
Two local companies sponsored the event which raised £80 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Many thanks to all who took part.
South Norwood cancer patient Peter Smith set off on a cycle ride from Land's End to John O'Groats to express his gratitude and raise funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in early May.
Peter completed the ride with his good friend James Malone whose wife Tara is also being treated at the hospital.
We are delighted to report that after cycling 1,000 gruelling miles Peter and James arrived successfully in John O'Groats! At an average of 87 miles per day this has been a real challenge for 70 year old Peter.
To date donations for the challenge total more than £15,000. If you would like to contribute further you can do so at www.justgiving.com/peteboyo2 and www.just giving.com/james-malone.
Huge thanks to Spike Reid who yesterday – on his birthday – cycled 80 miles through London visiting all 81 of the Unique Venues of London as well as paying a visit to our Chelsea hospital.
On his JustGiving page he wrote "I'm doing this ride in memory of my amazing mother who died after a long fight against cancer. She was given amazing treatment by The Royal Marsden with a pioneering new drug which extended her life by many months, letting her continue to enjoy holidays, have another Christmas with us and walk down the aisle at my sister's wedding."
Classical singer Kathryn Jenkins has chosen to support The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity when running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October.
Kathryn is an ambassador for the race this year and we're thrilled that she is raising money for us.
Support Katherine on her JustGiving page.
All of us at The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who supported The Marsden March.
This year walkers, sponsors and volunteers personally contributed to raising a phenomenal £1.18 million, with some sponsorship money still coming in.
This money will be used to support the pioneering work of The Royal Marsden in giving our patients the best possible treatment and care. This total is even more impressive given the wet weather this year.
Don't forget – you can still sign up for early-bird registration for 2014.
IT and management consultancy company CGI recently presented a cheque for £47,037.95 raised from a variety of staff fundraising activities, to be split between The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Brain Tumour Charity.
It is a staggering sum and we are very grateful to all staff involved for their efforts and generosity.
Aegon Championships winner Andy Murray is to continue his support for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as he resumes his bid for a first Wimbledon title this week.
Andy was a key figure in the Rally Against Cancer event at The Queen's Club last weekend (Sunday 16 June), supporting best friend and fellow tennis professional Ross Hutchins, who is being treated for cancer at The Royal Marsden.
After the event, which saw Andy joined on court by Tim Henman, coach Ivan Lendl and Tomas Berdych, along with a host of celebrities, he donated his Aegon Championships prize money of £73,000 to the charity, contributing to an amazing total raised so far of £250,000.
He is now continuing that support by sporting the name of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity on his Wimbledon whites.
Andy said: "Last Sunday was a great day for so many reasons, winning the title then taking part in Rally Against Cancer.
"I want to help raise as much money and awareness as possible so The Royal Marsden can continue the vital work it does, which I've heard all about through Ross.
"After Rally, the natural progression was Wimbledon, and the sleeve patch is just a small way I can show my support for Ross and The Royal Marsden and continue to raise awareness."
One For The Boys is a new campaign that will raise awareness about male cancer and encourages a change in the male mentality on health launches. It launched today with the backing of Pulp Fiction star Samuel L. Jackson and a host of other celebrities.
The campaign was founded to challenge men's understanding of the disease and their tendency to have a more laissez-faire approach to their own health. Although men and woman are both at risk of contracting cancer, the death rate for men is higher with no conclusive biological evidence to suggest that men are more susceptible.
All money raised will go to its campaign partner The Royal Marsden, to enable the cancer specialists there to buy new MRI scanners for a new imaging centre that will allow them to remain at the forefront of cancer diagnostic imaging.
Visit the One For The Boys website
Tune in to Peter Andre's Cancer Diaries on ITV This Morning from 10.45am, Wednesday 12 June. Part 3 follows 14-year-old James who has a brain tumour and is receiving radiotherapy at The Royal Marsden. You'll see him receiving CT scans, getting his face mask and then his first radiotherapy treatment.
You can watch the episodes broadcast so far on the ITV website:Part 1: Peter meets Jacquie and PeterPart 2: Peter meets Sofia, her family and her nursesPart 3: Peter meets JamesPart 4: Peter visits Horder Ward
The Wheatsheaf in Ewell has raised the fantastic sum of £2,250 through a superb Party in the Pub.
The event featured live music from various high profile bands, as well as the family entertainments of face painting, barbecue and bouncy castle. Local shops donated wonderful prizes for the raffle, and the day finished with a disco and karaoke.
A great big Thank You to all the staff and patrons.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, TV stars Michael McIntyre and Jonathan Ross, Sir Richard Branson and actor Eddie Redmayne of Les Miserables fame, will be among the special guests joining Andy Murray and Tim Henman at Rally Against Cancer, which will take place on finals day of the Aegon Championships.
Rally Against Cancer will follow the singles final, featuring a doubles match of Murray and Henman vs. Ivan Lendl and Tomas Berdych. After that, Murray and Henman will face each other, with the cast of celebrities as rotating doubles partners.
Boris Johnson said: "I am delighted to have been invited to take part in the Rally Against Cancer at The Queen's Club on Sunday 16 June. It is a really good cause and one that I am honoured to support. However, given the LTA's generous decision to donate £10 for every ace served, I am concerned that their bank balance will look a little thin after I've finished with Mr Henman and Mr Murray!"
You can find out more about the event and how you can get involved at www.royalmarsden.org/rally.
Bradley Ashcroft and Naomi Trowbridge took on an epic run recently, all the way from the capital to the coast. They wrote:
"We started the run in Richmond Park at around 7:20 am and finished 16 and a half hours later in Brighton around 11:50 pm. We passed The Royal Marsden in Sutton en-route which gave us a boost.
"Thanks for your support and good luck postcard before the race, we are doing the Brighton marathon again next April and look forward to many more races and continuing to raise money for such a great cause."
Thanks to Bradley and Naomi for a truly inspiring effort.
Charles Russell LLP partners and staff have been busy taking part in fundraising challenges for The Royal Marsden. Over the last few months, since we became the firm's Charity of the Year, teams from Charles Russell LLP have joined The Marsden March and the South Downs Trekathon as well as running in the Brighton and London Marathons, with a group set to run the BUPA 10,000 at the end of this month, and another set to take to the skies for a parachute jump at the start of June.
Senior Partner Christopher Page commented: "It's very heartening to see the efforts that people will go to as we raise funds for the charity. I am delighted that so many people have taken on these challenges as we add our support to the important work carried out at The Royal Marsden."
Peter Andre recently filmed a five-part cancer special at The Royal Marsden for ITV's daytime This Morning show.
The reality television star and singer returned to the hospital where his brother Andrew was treated for kidney cancer in 2012 to help raise awareness about the treatment and advances in cancer care at The Royal Marsden.
The series, called Peter Andre's Cancer Diaries, focuses on surgical innovations, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, palliative care and fundraising with the first episode aired on 15 May.
One episode follows patient Peter Latham whose prostatectomy was performed by Mr Chris Ogden using the da Vinci S surgical robot. Peter said he was delighted to take part in the show and added: "When I was asked to take part, there was no question of me not doing it. I was happy to help promote the work of The Royal Marsden."
The second episode in the series followed the journey of three-year-old Sofia Raulinitis (pictured above) receiving chemotherapy treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
Episodes will be available to watch after broadcast on the This Morning website.
Thanks to Affinity Water's Sue Lashley, whose casual workwear gathered a tidy sum for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Every month Affinity Water has a "Time to give Friday" where staff dress down to raise money for a nominated charity. The company then matches the total amount raised on the day, to give an extra boost to the funding.
Sue said: "The money raised will help to support the hospital's pioneering work in cancer research which affects people from all areas. Thanks to everyone in the company who gave so generously and together we have raised a fantastic amount of money."
Our thanks to The Middlesex Province Relief Fund who presented a cheque for £15,000 at their 10th Anniversary and Diamond Jubilee Grants dinner.
During the Jubilee Year the MPRF offered each lodge within its province £500 for their nominated charity. with the three top applications receiving a split share of the total.
We are thrilled to have been given this generous sum which has been put towards the Oak Centre for Children and Young People.
We're delighted to announce that Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP – an international law firm with offices in London – has selected The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as their charity of the year.
Thank you to all involved in this. We're really looking forward to working with you over the next year.
Here's a list of other companies that support us.
Each May many of our intrepid supporters take on the Every Day in May challenge.
This exciting event takes place over the whole of May and involves covering the distance by any form of body power every single day of the month.
Entrants have two distance options, 10k or 5k every day. The total distances covered are 192.5 miles and 96.2 miles respectively – that's approximately seven and a half or three and a half marathons in a month.
If you can't run the distances you can walk them or use any method of self-propelled movement such as swimming, kayaking, skating or whatever you come up with!
Good luck and a huge thanks to all involved. See the event website for more details.
Ivan Lendl will take on the man he coaches after joining forces with Tomas Berdych to face Andy Murray and Tim Henman in the Rally Against Cancer doubles exhibition on finals day at the Aegon Championships.
Find out more about Rally Against Cancer
Retired Metropolitan Police Inspector Charles McIlwrick is selling his moving and inspirational life story to support three cancer charities. "Not All Coppers Are Bastards" is a story with Irish sparkle charting the highs and lows of life on the London streets.
Donating the proceeds of his book is a way of saying 'thank you' for the care and understanding showed to him and his second wife, Pat, who died from cancer in 2009.
Mr McIlwrick recently presented a cheque to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity for £1,350.00. Representing the charity were recent Ladies' Golf Captain Tina Wakeford and Men's Captain Chris Rowsell, of Cooden Beach Golf Club, both of whom made us their Charity of the Year.
Mr McIlwrick would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in a copy of the book.
Sixth formers at Brentford School for Girls dropped in to the Oak Centre for Children and Young People on Monday 25 March with some wonderful gifts.
The girls raised a whopping £1,500 for the unit and purchased gifts appropriate for use by the teenagers in our care.
Katie Coleman, the faculty head said: "I'm really proud of the girls; they worked really hard to raise so much money."
The eight young people are each planning a future in health and social care.
Downsend Pre-Prep Epsom have been celebrating our ten10 campaign by holding a full week of fundraising activities around the ten10 challenge.
Across the week, all the children took part and were given a ten minute sponsored challenge. The Nursery classes walked around the playground singing as many nursery rhymes as they could. Reception children completed 12 laps of an assault course within the time limit and Year 1 took part in a swimathon, swimming as many widths as they could.
The children had great fun completing their ten10 challenges and through sponsorship have raised the amazing sum of £2,500. A huge congratulations and thanks to everyone at Downsend Pre-Prep Epsom!
On Sunday 17 March 2013, while thousands of other supporters were walking the route between The Royal Marsden's Chelsea and Sutton hospitals, the Farlow Family took part in their own Marsden March on the North Downs. The weather wasn't any better for them, but they completed their 14-mile route and are hoping to raise £1,200 between them. Our thanks to them all.
Profeet, the sports footwear and orthotics specialist based on Fulham Road, is offering 10% off its services to supporters who are doing something active (a run, a walk, etc) for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. They will also make an additional donation for the same amount to the charity.Find out more at profeet.co.uk
Thanks to the staff, pupils and parents from Stanley Park Junior School, Carshalton, who took part in a mini Marsden March yesterday.
The walkers tucked into juice and biscuits afterwards as a reward for their efforts.
On Friday 1 March Year 1 and 2 from The Avenue School, Sutton participated in a Mini Marsden March.
Head Teacher Mr Clarke said: "We were extremely lucky as PC John and the Mayor of Sutton escorted us to The Royal Marsden. After an encouraging speech from the Mayor, we all marched quickly to the hospital where we watched a video about The Marsden March and the reason why we were raising money for this charity.
"We then had some well-deserved refreshments before marching back to school. We all had lots of fun and hope to raise lots of money for this worth while cause which is currently helping one of our pupils.
"We would like to say an enormous thank you to all the parents who accompanied us and organised refreshments for us."
Donations are still being accepted at the school's JustGiving page.
The Aegon Championships is to host Rally Against Cancer, an all-star doubles match on finals day to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which supports The Royal Marsden, the world-leading cancer centre treating British tennis player Ross Hutchins.
Andy Murray and Tim Henman will both be part of the Rally Against Cancer line-up on Sunday 16 June, with other big-name tennis players and celebrities also making appearances.
Find out more
The Michelle Adams Fund held their first event on Friday 18 January 2013.
A Grand Ball was held at Orsett Hall for 360 guests. The night consisted of a dinner dance with a luxury raffle, auctions and other games, as well as a magician and band. 'Shelley Adams Fund' wristbands were also sold.
Michelle Adams, mother of 5, sadly passed away in June 2012 after fighting secondary breast cancer for six years. Her positive strong attitude inspired her family to start a charitable fund in her name to help raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity; it is a way the family can give back to the Marsden for all the help and support, but also a way for Shelley's legacy to live on.
The event raised over £12,500.
Thank you very much to ASDA in Sutton for their kind donation of a fabulous collection of post-op bras for breast cancer patients at The Royal Marsden.
Thank you to the Ladies' and Gents' Captains and all the members of Cooden Beach Golf Club, East Sussex, for their kindness and generosity in raising the tremendous sum of £16,853.23 in aid of our new Centre for Molecular Pathology.
The Mint, a popular pub in Banstead, has raised the fabulous sum of £2,300 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. During December, children were entertained by Santa in his Grotto and staff were challenged in running and cycling events. Local businesses came in to create a Christmas market and over 25 shops and individual supporters donated gifts for the concluding auction. Fundraiser Laura Hudson was delighted to present the charity with the donations this week and wished to thank the local community for their wonderful support.
HRH The Duke of Cambridge has helped launch a new charity campaign for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity by starring in a specially made film.
The Duke is personally supporting the charity's fundraising campaign ten10 – a decade of innovation at The Royal Marsden, which launches on Monday 21 January, by appearing in the film.
Find out more at www.royalmarsden.org/ten10/prince-williamRead the full story at www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk
On 13 December Janet Tobin from The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity went along to Surbiton Masonic Centre for a cheque presentation evening where she picked up a very generous gift from Surrey Freemasons.
The lodges which contributed to this were Cradiden Lodge, John, Lord Lumley Lodge, Box Hill Lodge, Ye Olde Wells Lodge and Benhilton Lodge. Thank you all for your kind support.
A team from financial experts Cavendish Medical took seven arduous days to reach the top of the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
The group took on Mount Kilimanjaro in memory of client Dr Jeremy Davies, who recently lost his battle with cancer.
Cavendish chairman and volunteer climber Dr Mark Martin said, "It was a very hard challenge but we are delighted to be able to raise such a great sum for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and know Jeremy's family will be pleased with our efforts. My sincere thanks go to all those who have generously donated to our appeal."
You can visit the team's Virgin Money Giving page to donate until 13 January.
A recent Christmas fair of a group of vintage and craft traders has raised £1350.05 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Sarah Kincaid from Everyday Rocks, Janet Huckle of Ragging Lion, Ananla Walker from Pearly Queen Boutique and Nicky French of Dottie Design decided they wanted to combine working together and fundraising at the same time.
The WOW! Vintage and Craft was born and fundraised at their 24 November event, attended by The Mayor of Kingston, Cllr Mary Heathcote OBE.
Cyra Pykes completed a Himalayan mountain trek after a back injury forced her out of a planned trip to Everest. Despite this setback, the trek was completed and Cyra has nearly reached her fundraising goal!
Cyra said: "Doing the charity challenge for the RMCC has been a fantastic experience. Raising the money was daunting, but ended up being lots of fun and the actual trek was an amazing experience – fantastic scenery and a great group of people. I'd highly recommend doing a challenge to anyone thinking about it – it's been very rewarding and worthwhile."
Visit Cyra's JustGiving page and help her reach her target.
Supporters Linda Deadman and Janice Waghorn have been fundraising for 10 years by running quiz nights, never repeating the same question!
Their fundraising has now exceeded an amazing £35,000 and Tony Hazeldine, a governor of The Royal Marsden, went along to the Abbey Hotel and Conference Centre to congratulate them and mark the special occasion. He was presented with a cheque for £6442.35 from this year's fundraising.
Well done to these special ladies and thank you for all the hard work over the ten years. Thank you also to the Abbey Hotel for their support on these very popular quiz nights, and to all the residents and friends from Sheerness for contributing to such a wonderful sum.
Mr and Mrs Rawal and their friends and colleagues raised £2,800 at a recent fundraising event which included an auction and raffle.
They used the money raised to buy some wonderful gifts for the Oak Centre for Children and Young People including a camera, a laptop and lots of craft and construction items.
These generous gifts will really help ensure that the Centre's patients have the best Christmas possible.
Hollies Golf Society hold an event every summer to raise money for their chosen charity.
The day includes a round of golf, dinner and lots of fines and fun and this year raised a wonderful £3,586 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Mr and Mrs Harper celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year and instead of gifts asked for donations to be made to The Royal Marsden thanking surgeon Mr Strauss (pictured) following Mr Harper's treatment in 2011.
A wonderful £600 was raised through their celebration. Thank you and congratulations!
Marsha Shandur was due to run the New York marathon this year but after months of training the event was sadly cancelled.
She then had the idea to run the London route on her own, and tweeted her run live.
With friends and family supporting her along the way, Marsha completed the run in just over seven hours and was even featured on the BBC website.
Marsha said, "I had truly the most amazing day of my life yesterday - such incredible support!"
Congratulations and thanks to Marsha for a great run. You can still donate to her fundraising page.
Two five-mile charity walks for children with cancer were successfully completed last month, with 47 people, including children and dogs, raising over £3,000.
The walks in Chobham, Surrey, were organised by David Standley for his granddaughter Esme, a patient at The Royal Marsden. He said, "with a happy relaxed atmosphere throughout everyone agreed that the walks had been interesting and varied although perhaps rather muddy!"
There's still time to sponsor the walk on David's JustGiving page.
Staff from Total Orthodontics raised over £5,000 by trekking 11.2 miles on their annual charity walk.
47 members of staff donned their Olympic-themed outfits to take part in the walk. Thank you to Total Orthodontics for nominating The Royal Marsden as their chosen charity for this year's trek.
Sutton Tennis & Squash Club held their Aegon/LTA (Tier 1) Open Tennis Tournament from 19-25 August, raising £940 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity by selling merchandise during the week and organising a raffle.
Now in its 5th year, the STSC tournament has become one of the most anticipated events on the Aegon tour. Thank you to all those involved for their tremendous support.
Vincent Auletta and local Italian Community group Federarazione Lucani kindly presented a cheque for a £1000 to Jim Mulvey, a representative of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, at a recently held dinner dance at St. Joseph's Catholic Church Hall in Epsom.
Jim thanked everyone for their kindness and generosity and for their continued support of the charity.
Congratulations to Warren and Charlie Mott and Scott Wilson for completing their kayaking challenge on Saturday 20 October.
The trio paddled over 135 miles in four days starting in Cricklade in Wiltshire and finishing in Teddington. They battled through wind and rain for up to 12 hours a day and finally finished on Saturday evening in time for their celebratory party at The Oak in Kingston.
Thank you to everyone who supported Warren, Charlie and Scott and helped them to raise over £12,000 – a fantastic achievement.
Belmont Festival was a roaring success once again, and on Thursday 18 October the organisers were able to hand over a cheque of the money raised: a massive £13,605 for the Centre for Molecular Pathology.
Thank you to everyone involved - the organisers, the stallholders, the entertainers and everyone who attended.
The inaugural Banstead Exclusive Ladies Lunch Event (B.E.L.L.E.) took place on Saturday 13 October, with almost 190 local ladies helping to raise nearly £8,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The event was organised by a team of Banstead ladies – Anita, Bev, Deb, Kim, Shellie, Tracy and Vee. Their main aim was to raise as much money as possible while having a lot of fun.
There was a more serious moment during the afternoon when Tony Hazeldine, a governor of The Royal Marsden, talked about the history and role of the hospital and of his personal experiences. Sophie Jones brought tears to the eyes of many in the room with her eloquent and moving speech about the great support her family received from The Royal Marsden after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the excellent treatment and care she was given during her 11-year battle with the disease.
Find out more about B.E.L.L.E. at www.BelleofBanstead.weebly.com.
Staff at Christ's Hospital school took on the Barnes Green half marathon on Sunday, 30 September, while pupils of the school took to the village green with collection buckets.
They raised an amazing £556.72 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, bringing the total raised by the School over the last six months to over £12,000.
Congratulations and a huge thank you to all who took part.
On Saturday 14 July, Beckenham Shotokan Karate Club turned out for a sponsored kata and raised £2,763 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, a cause close to the club's heart as some members are being treated at The Royal Marsden.
A kata is a choreographed pattern of movements, used to demonstrate form. For the sponsored event, the club decided to do katas non-stop for 3 hours. Some of the beginners are only used to training for 45 minutes at a time, so for them it was particularly challenging.
Royal Marsden Cancer Charity supporter Daisy Shinhmar had never ridden a bicycle before she decided to take up a marathon charity cycle challenge.
The Clinical Trial Co-ordinator based in the hospital's Drug Development Unit in Sutton completed the London to Brighton cycle challenge on 16 September, raising over £200 via her JustGiving page.
"I get to know patients well in my job and see what they have to go through", said Daisy. "They were my inspiration and I know first hand how important it is to invest charity money in research, treatment and care for our patients."
Eighty-nine people took part in the ride for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity – the biggest team we've had so far taking part in the event.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity supporters Mr and Mrs Knight celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary with a 1970s fancy dress party.
They enjoyed an evening of fun, games and music along with space hopper races, hula hoop contests and 1970s-themed quizzes. A wonderful £1,050 was raised through raffles, bingo and donations from guests in lieu of gifts.
We are delighted that Southern Railway, one of our corporate partners has been busy raising money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
They held their first Charities Week from 30 June to 6 July with cake sales, raffles, book sales and coffee mornings, raising over over £1,700.
Ross Stevenson cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity because of the excellent care his grandmother, Jeannine Tait, was given over a period of eight years at the hospital.
Ross' family, including his mother, aunt and the family business, Wimbledon Village Stables, also try to raise as much money as they can. Ross has raised £845 so far and hopes to complete further fundraising challenges.
Cheam Park Farm Junior School (Class 4H) kindly raised the sum of £131 in aid of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity by taking part in the 'Go-Givers Make A Difference challenge', a fundraising initiative aimed at Primary Schools.
In addition to their fundraising, the children also kindly presented some hand made 'Get Well' cards to the Oak Centre for Children and Young People.
Customers at John Lewis, Kingston, have helped raise £1,500 in cash and goods though the Community Matters token scheme.
Pictured here is Lene Wood, Community Liaison Coordinator, presenting a laptop and camera to Amanda Heaton, our Community Fundraising & Development Manager. We are most grateful to John Lewis and their customers for their generosity.
Customers at Viva Bridal got to sparkle in their wedding dresses for a second time recently when owner Lavina Best held a fundraising ball.
The event included an auction, games and casino and raised a total of £3,231 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Thanks to all involved – you look fabulous!
Dennis Eyriey, past President of Easthampstead Rotary Club, kindly presented a donation of £1,500 to Tony Hazeldine (right) bringing the total raised over the past year to an amazing £2,500 in support of the building of our new Centre for Molecular Pathology.
A personal and moving thank you was given by Dennis as his wife had been successfully treated at The Royal Marsden for a rare form of cancer.
After his son was treated for Hodgkins Lymphoma, John Warren-Piper felt he owed The Royal Marsden (and specifically Professor David Cunningham and his team) a huge debt of gratitude, so decided to take on a fundraising challenge.
Between 23 June and 25 July John completed a walk around the coastline of Devon and Cornwall managing to walk a total of 444 miles. In doing so he raised a over £16,800 via his JustGiving page.
Phil Curtis and friends set themselves the massive challenge of cycling 200km in 10 hours on spin bikes, all in fancy dress. Phil, dressed as Luigi from Super Mario Bros, managed this in just eight hours before adding an extra 61km to his total and teaching a two-hour spin class. He raised a fantastic £1,312 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
"We took on this challenge for our own individual causes. Mine was The Royal Marsden as my mother was treated there for three and a half years during her battle with cancer. The money raised is to go towards helping others be made as comfortable and treated as well as she was during her time."
Congratulations to Jane Graham and friends who climbed Mount Snowdon in memory of her brother Shaun, who passed away from lung cancer in June. The climb was tough and took a lot of determination and guts. Despite bad weather at the top, Jane made it to the summit to say a few words and collect a small pebble as a keepsake: "I made the trek down with a sense of loss as well as achievement, some pride mixed with humbleness in the face of fate and nature.
Find out how you can take on a challenge like this
The sun shone and a brass band played as residents at Wilhelmina House, Park Hill, were joined by their family and friends for their annual Summer Garden Party on Saturday 28 July.
Money was raised for the Home and charity through raffles, tombola, a sale of handmade cards and plants potted by the residents themselves. In total £300 was raised for The Royal Marsden.
Congratulations to Natta Building Company who have raised the fabulous sum of £4,900 by holding a golf day. Thank you to all those who supported the golf day.
Jo Whelan presented the cheque for the benefit of the Oak Centre for Children and Young People to Amanda Heaton, Fundraising and Community Development Manager.
More than 140 golfers helped raise at least £14,000 for cancer charities, including £1,320 for The Royal Marsden, during the fifth annual Swing for Sammy golf day at Muswell Hill Golf Club on Friday 29 June.
The day is staged in memory and honour of Samantha Trow who died aged 26 of bowel cancer in February 2008.
More recently the Seniors Captain Charity Guest day was held at Crondon Park Golf and Country Club on 23 July where 110 golfers in fantastic conditions raised around £1,000.
A big thank you to Sutton Runners who once again chose The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as one of the beneficiaries for the Sutton Runners 10k run. The event was a great success with over 400 runners taking part and raising £2,340 for their two chosen charities.
Could your club or group do something for charity? Get in touch
Pupils at Christ's Hospital school celebrated raising over £10,000 following a successful series of sponsored runs.
When one of their fellow students, Miles McCulloch, was admitted to The Royal Marsden's teenage unit at Christmas, the students in his house responded by running 'Miles for Miles' to recognise the amazing treatment he was receiving.
With Miles' recovery well under way they got together to run one last mile, each student wearing a specially designed hand-made bandanna created by the pupils.
Today we received an amazingly generous donation from The Camouflage Company: seven pallet loads of their products.
We will be using these to raise funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to support cancer diagnosis, treatment, care and research. Thank you to everyone at The Camouflage Company.
Liam Feetham and his sister did a parachute jump in June, and have raised over £2,600.
Just over seven years ago Liam was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 22. While waiting for his annual check up in February he saw an opportunity to give something back to all those that looked after him. Liam decided that he would jump 10,000ft out of an aeroplane in a tandem parachute jump.
Find out how you can do a charity parachute jump
Fitznells Music and Drama Centre raised £2,193 through donations at a fundraising concert and at the funeral of Sheila Colchester, Fitznells' Musical Director from 1988-2011 and a patient at The Royal Marsden.
Members of the choir 'Divas' present a cheque to Tony Hazeldine above.
Two pupils from Highstead Grammar School in Sittingbourne have mustered the support of family and their school to raise over £,3000 for us.
Nancy Devine's family joined in The Marsden March this year, raising £2,000 while her friend Alex Cooper organised a CD/DVD and book sale at school raising round £300. The girls' House, Franklin, then raised £730 with a drama competition.
Mick Helps, Paul Hoskins and Richard Crompton beat the wind, rain and floods as they cycled from Pembroke Castle in Wales to Britannia Pier in Great Yarmouth in less that two days.
The trio are regulars at setting extreme targets having already cycled from London to Paris in less than a day and Lands End to John O'Groats in a week. However, it was the freak June weather conditions that made this tough 380 mile journey even harder.
Helps explains: "We wanted to do something special to help this great cause and even without the extreme weather two days was a tough target. So we are pleased with our all-in finish time of 46 hours, 46 minutes and 10 seconds and have now raised over £1,500 for the The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Everyone has been so generous!"
If you would like to sponsor the team or find out more about the challenge visit www.thehelps.co.uk
After her sister was diagnosed with cancer, Kate Woodley decided she wanted to do something to help, so with ten of her friends she completed a five mile walk around High Elms Country Park in Orpington, Kent.
The girls left a trail of feathers from their pink feather boas and along with their team mascot Emily the Labradoodle, raised £941 for the Oak Centre for Children and Young People.
Six members of Nomads Korfball Club in Surrey set out on Saturday 12 May to complete the 20 mile Round the Borough Walk, a challenge to residents from Epsom & Ewell Borough Council.
Club member Tina Sullivan said: "Having looked at the map, we decided there were more hills than we anticipated! Undeterred, we marched ahead and were even accompanied in stages by the Mayoress of Epsom & Ewell, who walked all 20 miles in her chains of office.
"All six of us completed the walk and we finished as a united group. The fantastic total of £1,710 (and still rising) that has been kindly contributed acted as a huge spur in those final miles when we began to flag a little. That is an incredible total and we are all really thrilled to help such a worthwhile charity."
Treetops Nurseries in Sutton and Cheam have been busy launching their new fundraising scheme as children at both nurseries spent a day making and decorating lots of delicious cakes and biscuits in a charity bake off, while staff joined them in wearing some fabulous costumes.
The whole day was a great success and the cakes went down a treat with the parents, who donated generously throughout the day. With the help of three other local branches in Cheam, Epsom and Teddington a total of £468 was raised on the day, so a big thank you to all who took part.
Ruby's mummy Kelly said: "We can't wait to be involved in more of the fundraising events at the nursery."
Throughout the year Treetops will be planning numerous charity events to help support The Royal Marsden.
Ronnie Ehren, Jonathan Smeeton and Nick Harvey, staff members from Invicta Girls Grammar School in Maidstone, Kent completed the KM Big Ride on 1 April, cycling a total of 68 miles and raising over £2,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The team dressed up in in fairy costumes and rode bikes that were beautifully decorated by Amy Riley, a year 12 student. They received lots of comments from other riders during the day.
The school also organised a 'Torture the Teachers' event which raised £530.
A charity rugby event took place on Friday 6 April at Richmond Rugby Club to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. A group of friends organised the event as one of their friends is being treated at The Royal Marsden and they wanted to raise as much as possible for the charity.The event has already raised over £20,000 and they hope to hit their target of £25,000 very soon.
We are so grateful to our 100 runners for their amazing support, not only for their dedication in spending months training but also for all their hard work raising money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
We are delighted to have raised over £115,000 so far through these two events.Find out about other runs and marathons you could do
Rory Depree wanted to say thank you for the treatment that his mother received at The Royal Marsden. He asked people to sponsor him to run every day for a week from Box Hill School (where he is studying for his GCSEs) up Box Hill and back in his lunchtimes.
Friends at school and other pupils were so impressed that they helped too with a cake sale, a sponsored sleepover in the trees of the school's high ropes course and a sponsored non-uniform day.
As a result of all of this, Rory raised £2,000.
The Royal Marsden was featured on the BBC's flagship science programme Horizon on Tuesday 10 April. The episode focused on the latest in personalised cancer treatment and was filmed at The Royal Marsden and The Institute of Cancer Research. In particular, it featured two advanced types of cancer treatment funded by supporters of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity: the da Vinci S surgical system and the Cyberknife radiotherapy machine. Watch again or find out more about the BBC Horizon programme View the episode on YouTube Find out more about personalised medicine
Thirty members of the Romford and Dagenham Tae Kwon Do club, together with friends and family and a very fashion-conscious boxer dog, walked their own Marsden March on Sunday 11 March. Several of the club's members have experience of The Royal Marsden's terrific work so instructor Alison Edwards was very happy to organise a local walk.
Normally the club train in bare feet but on Sunday it was trainers and collecting tins rather than kick pads and body armour, and members are looking likely to exceed their fundraising target of £500 by a considerable margin – currently it is in excess of £1,300 and increasing.
Second year learners on a Children's Care Learning and Development course at John Ruskin College in Croydon organised a wear-your-pyjamas-to-college day. The learners spent the day walking around the college collecting donations for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Students from Holy Cross Convent School raised over £100 by taking on the boys in a fancy dress netball match. It was a closely fought match and the winners were definitely the pink feather boas!
Students at Christ's Hospital school in Horsham are walking, jogging and running miles to show their gratitude to The Royal Marsden, where one of their friends, Miles McCulloch, has been receiving treatment for lymphoma since Christmas Eve. All manner of pupils, from serious athletes to 'wheezer-geezers', have been clocking up the miles in this extended race. The final total of miles covered will include the the school steeplechase, to be run on 20 March. They've already smashed their target on JustGiving and there's still time to go.Find out more at www.christs-hospital.org.uk
Congratulations to Barton Willmore on their JustGiving Award for Workplace Fundraiser of the Year. The planning and design consultancy created an event called Barton Wheelmore which saw over 80 members of staff, friends and clients take part in a cycle relay connecting their ten UK offices. So far they've raised £23,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre, and they hope to break their £25,000 target by the end of March.Read more at justgiving.com
Thank you again to Sainsbury's Cobham who made us their charity of the year and have so far raised over £4,000. Their latest display of generosity was £200 of Christmas gifts: books, games, DVDs, chocolates and mulled wine. Some of these were given to young patients at the hospital and some were raffled off to raise money.
Insight, the Rotaract Club of Littlehampton, raised £1,000 with a Presidents' Night party in historic Arundel and by volunteering in the charity shop run by the local Rotary Club.
Members of Rotaract visited the Sutton hospital in January to hand over the cheque and to look around the new Oak Centre for Children and Young People.
Reigate Grammar School has been running all sorts of fundraising activities. They sold Royal Marsden Cancer Charity products at the school's Christmas production of The Producers (pictured), baked and decorated gingerbread men to sell to pupils and staff, and some teachers grew moustaches during Movember.
Homefield School in Sutton has supported The Royal Marsden for many years. In September, the Homefield Superstars after-school club's theme was witches and wizards and the boys wanted to make some real potions and spells.
Sue Moylan, who runs the club, tells us: "We found the 'wish well, wish often' spell and we decided to dedicate it to the children in The Royal Marsden. We lit a candle daily, recited the spell and made special wishes for others, but not ourselves. When the parents came to pick the boys up we asked them to put their spare change into our spell tin. The boys were so enthusiastic about doing this, and so eager to help weave a little magic to help those less fortunate than ourselves. I am so proud of my superstars."
On 25 October 2011, Terry Ingle of Skelmersdale Masonic Lodge No.1599 and Mike Shelley and Mary Nudds of the Stevenage Leisure 50 Walking Club and the North and East Hertfordshire Ramblers walked 30km (18.6 miles) for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The Walk started at Welwyn Garden City fountain and passed through many Hertfordshire villages on the way to Letchworth Garden City fountain. Supporting the three walkers was Ken Smith who had donations from family and friends.
Between them they raised a total of £1,111.
A team of seven from RBS Resourcing took part in a run on Sunday 27 November, raising an impressive £3,000.
The runners were Chris Oglethorpe, Peter Moffat, Mike Maddick, Jim Richardson and Christine MacKenzie (left to right in the photo above), and Victoria Gale and Alex Shepherd (not pictured).
Lower Sixth students from Salesian College in Farnborough, led by Joe Byrne and Will Debenham, walked 20 miles to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in memory of Alex Bolt.
It was a great day, with many students, family and friends of the College walking together around the sports field. The walk began bright and early at 8.30am and everyone was across the finish line by 3.40pm.
Poppy Jacobs, a pupil at Rupert House School in Henley, organised a cake sale to raise money. She baked all week and other children donated home-made cakes which she sold at break time and after school, raising £240.
Poppy has now raised more than £350 selling cakes and taking part in a sponsored run. Her uncle was treated at The Royal Marsden for leukaemia.
St Martin's Primary School in Dorking raised over £2,000 with a sponsored obstacle race. Class KS1 (about 100 children aged 4 to 7) had ten minutes to complete the course as many times as they could.
The school also organised a bingo night and a swimathon, and teacher Hannah Woollard took part in the London Marathon in April 2011.
At the end of the summer term, they presented us with a cheque for £6,508.01.
Pupils, staff and friends of Brynteg Comprehensive School raised £1,500 by forming a 250m trail of socks in a 'Sockathon' held on Monday 11 July. Olympic gold medal winning cyclist and former Brynteg pupil Nicole Cooke donated socks for the event, as did fellow former pupil Kevin Ellis and Garw rugby hero John Devereux.
The event was inspired by the school librarian's granddaughter Bethan Vacher, aged nearly two, who was diagnosed with leukaemia last August.
It's been all quiet on the Year 8 front as pupils at Warlingham School took part in a sponsored silence for a day as one of their fundraising activities. They raised over £1,000 for charity – double their target – and have donated half of their fund to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Jack and Jill pre-school at Littlehaven Infants School, Horsham, held a street party to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, with the children dressing up as kings, queens, princes and princesses.
There was a BBQ and a cake stall, and some people brought their own picnics and champagne to toast the happy couple. Children made crowns and wore jelly-sweet 'engagement' rings.
All the money raised, £109.88, was sent to The Royal Marsden.
Children and staff arrived at Downsend School Epsom Lodge dressed in an array of crazy outfits, including Captain Chemo t-shirts, and sporting brightly coloured hair, nails and faces for their annual 'Captain Chemo's Crazy Day'. Throughout the day each class, including the youngest nursery children, took part in either a sponsored walk around Alexandra Park or around the school grounds.
This year, Captain Chemo t-shirt sales raised £300 for The Royal Marsden.
Students have raised over £3,500 for The Royal Marsden. Megan White, a student there, was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma just before Christmas and her sister Charlotte went straight into action to raise money for the hospital.Read more about this on Facebook
Led by staff member Andrew Baker, the boys at King's College Junior School in Wimbledon kindly raised the most amazing sum of £3,634.61 by taking part in a sponsored spelling and tables event. The funds they have worked so hard to raise are in aid of the Centre for Children and Young People. See the massive cheque on Facebook
On Friday 19 March, Belleville Primary School held 'Mad Hair Day'. Most of the children came to school with crazy hairstyles and donated £1, raising £848.49 in the process. Read more at www.belleville-school.org.uk
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, Registered Charity No. 1095197Terms & conditions | Privacy and cookies policy | Jobs | Contact us
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
We raise money to help The Royal Marsden provide world-class care for cancer patients, and to support the hospital's pioneering work in cancer research and education