Lingen Davies Cancer Fund has reached the halfway mark of the appeal’s ambitious plans to raise £750,000 by the end of 2016.
With demand for radiotherapy treatment at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) increasing by five per cent each year, the dream of purchasing an additional world-class Linear Accelerator moved a step closer this week.
A donation of £902.16 from a James Bond casino evening held at The Inn on the Green in Radbrook, Shrewsbury, pushed the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund beyond the halfway mark.
“Everyone knows someone who has suffered from cancer so why wouldn’t you raise funds for the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund?” said Craig Fisher, landlord of The Inn on The Green, who adopted the appeal as the pub’s charity of the year after a couple of his regulars were diagnosed with cancer.
But despite the appeal surpassing the halfway mark ahead of schedule, the fundraising team insist there is still a lot of work to be done.
“We are absolutely delighted to have reached £379,402 by the middle of November but there is still a long way to go before we reach the £750,000 target,” said Louise Dawson, Fundraising Manager.
“The aim now is to push for £400,000 by the turn of the year and hit our target by the end of 2016.
“To have such ambitions wouldn’t be possible without all the wonderful people who have rallied together to support the appeal. We are extremely grateful for all the support and hopefully we can raise the second half of the money just as quickly as the first.”
With demand for radiotherapy treatment in the region increasing, with 50 per cent of patients diagnosed with cancer requiring radiotherapy treatment, an additional Linear Accelerator is essential to ensuring patients in Shropshire and mid Wales receive treatment quickly and with minimum disruption to their daily lives.
Louise Killey, Radiotherapy Manager at the Lingen Davies Centre at RSH, said: “The Linear Accelerator will deliver a targeted dose of high energy radiation to shrink and destroy tumours.
“The advanced technology of the machine allows radiotherapy treatment to be targeted even more precisely, minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissue. The aim of this is to cure patients of their disease whilst improving their quality of life.
“Clinical staff at the hospital will be able to develop and deliver advanced radiotherapy techniques for certain types of cancer due to the high-level performance of the machine.”