Newcastle’s board of Business Beating Cancer

As Cancer Research UK ambassadors in the region, Business Beats Cancer board members and supporters raise funds and awareness for Cancer Research UK’s ground-breaking science on our doorstep. All funds raised will be restricted to lifesaving cancer research right here in the North East.

Newcastle is home to the Cancer Research UK Newcastle Centre, delivering world-leading research that accelerates the transition of lab-based discovery to the clinic, for the benefit of people affected by cancer in the North East and beyond.

We asked Helen more about how the opportunity came about and why it’s so important to her.

“One in two of us will get cancer over our lifetime; that’s a pretty scary stat. I love that funds raised by BBC Newcastle stay in the region, and go to funding the work of researchers at the CRUK Newcastle Centre. This means people in the region get to be involved in trails of new drugs when sadly all other options have proved ineffective. The work of the Newcastle Centre has global reach, impacting the lives of people living beyond the North East.

“I’m a newly selected member of the board at BBC Newcastle, and the majority of my role will be working with other board members to raise funds, including through the annual Black Tie dinner as well as smaller, more local events.

“It was actually at the fundraising dinner last year that I became so impressed by the charity; it’s not easy to strike the tone of an uplifting evening whilst still hitting home about the importance of the work and the reason for fundraising. It was really well delivered and moving, and as I’d been thinking about joining a board, when this opportunity came up, I was keen to be involved.

“I’m excited to spend time with Professor Anthony Moorman, who is a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at Newcastle University and a leading researcher at the CRUK Newcastle Centre.

“He will be talking to us about his work, which focuses on childhood blood cancers, notably Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Professor Moorman has been working on this for several decades, and the work he and his team have done over the years to look at the genetic makeup of childhood leukaemia, is then used to personalise treatment for patients – revolutionising the way clinical trials are conducted for childhood patients. His work in the lab has had a direct and impressive impact for survival rates for childhood cancer.

“I’m looking forward to sharing more about the charity with clients and contacts of Waterstons. We’ll also be hosting our own fundraising event, and taking a table at the dinner, to showcase the amazing work the charity does – through my day job I know that manufacturing organisations are passionate about the charity and work it does, so I hope to introduce even more in my tenure.

“I’m really passionate about the north east being a great place to live, with really interesting and innovative STEM based work taking place in the region. I think it important that we work toward solving some of the health based and other inequalities that the region experience, and this is my small contribution to that.”