Hidden away in the heart of England there is a small charity called Hope Against Cancer that is helping to change lives around the world.
The Hope Against Cancer model works on three core principles: Discover, Deliver and Share. These concepts work in concert to build a foundation of innovative research, support the translation of this work into new treatments for cancer, and support the sharing of knowledge and skills through training the lead researchers of tomorrow.
Since its founding in 2003, the charity has grown to become an integral part of Leicestershire and Rutland’s international reputation for exceptional cancer research.
To help accomplish this, it has forged strong partnerships with the local NHS Trust and the two Universities based in Leicester. Funding and support requests are funnelled through this partnership and assessed by a specialist board within the Hope Governance Team known as the Research Advisory Panel.
The panel is made up of experts from the local universities who closely follow trends in cancer research and advise the Board of Trustees on where HOPE’s funding is best spent to ensure maximum impact.
In its first decade the charity focused on funding PhD students and awarding fellowship grants. The first of these grants went towards the studies of bladder and colorectal cancers.
Then, in 2012, Hope Against Cancer opened the Hope Clinical Trials Facility at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. This facility, located near to research labs, allowed a close collaboration between treatment and research.
Samples were in a position to be swiftly delivered to laboratories for testing and analysis and the facility gained a reputation for excellence. Yet more was needed. The space soon became too small to accommodate all the ambitious activities the staff wanted to explore.
In response, Hope Against Cancer raised £1.3m to expand the space and, in 2021, the charity opened the renamed Hope Cancer Trials Centre.
The Centre’s Director Dr Harriet Walter said:
“Support from Hope Against Cancer enables the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to contribute to, and deliver, practice-changing international cancer trials within state-of-the-art facilities.
“Through this funding we’ve been able to make a real difference locally to our patients through early access to new drugs within clinical trials, some of which go onto be adopted into standard cancer care.”
The Hope Cancer Trials Centre currently has 152 ongoing and planned trials into a diverse range of cancers.
Recent grants include research into DNA markers that show the presence of cancer. It is expected that the project’s outcomes will facilitate a future in which identifying cancer is easy, reliable and routine.
It has been estimated that, thanks to Hope Against Cancer’s initial funding of such projects, the Leicestershire and Rutland area has attracted £25m in external grants for, and investment in, cancer research.
It is the local businesses, communities and individuals that have supported Hope Against Cancer to make these state-of-the-art facilities and practices possible.
Nigel Rose, CEO of Hope Against Cancer said:
“For 20 years, Hope Against Cancer has been helping to discover potential new treatments for cancer through cutting-edge research. We’ve been helping to deliver new treatments to patients and finally we’ve been sharing that knowledge to support the national and international fight against cancer.”
Hope Against Cancer is privileged to have a broad collection of business support through sponsorship, partnership, as the charity of the year, by hosting events and through the Hope Business Club.
Medilink Midlands is a proud supporter of Hope Against Cancer as a member of its Business Club. Find out more here.