'Each and everyone of these school children should be proud of themselves," says Weston Park Hospital's senior fundraiser Rachel Thorpe. "We would like to thank them and their families and friends for putting their hearts and souls into raising money for the vital cancer research being carried out here at Weston Park Hospital.
"It has taken just 5 weeks for these young people to achieve this. Some have shaved their heads, some have made cakes, some have eaten cakes! There have been sponsored silences, penalty shoot outs, sponsored ski's, easter egg hunts, quizzes, even a sponsored bounce. You name it they did it. From Y7 to 6th form they have really pulled the stops out and we commend them for it."
Here are some of the form representatives and those who made an extra special effort to fundraise with Weston Park Hospital's Professor Barry Hancock who visited the school to explain how cancer research is pushing forward the barriers in treatment and care.
The school was especially interested in helping our current research aimed at young people who have or have had cancer. We call this project Survive and Thrive but it is also known in medical circles as 'late effects'.
Statistically, one in every 900 young people in the UK has survived cancer and with increasingly effective treatments, this figure is expected to rise to 1 in 250 over the next five years.
As many as two thirds of childhood cancer survivors will experience some form of after effect from their treatment and for between 5% and 10%, this will be life threatening. Cruelly, this can occur 5, 10 or even 15 years after treatment.
Up to the age of 16, childhood cancer survivors here in Sheffield are supported by a ‘late effects’ clinic run within Sheffield Children’s NHS Trust. From ‘The Children’s’ these patients move onto a late effects clinic which runs at the Hallamshire Hospital, there is though a huge void with no specific ‘late effects’ care provided for adult cancer survivors, and no research into the best practice for the provision of such care for either adults or children.
Our ‘Survive and Thrive’ research team is based in the Cancer Research Centre here at Weston Park Hospital and because of the physical proximity of the different hospitals and the University, and the working practices already established, this team is uniquely situated to carry out research into the best way to provide care and support for both children and adults who survive cancer.
In addition to their own research, the team will pull together the scattered strands of research which has been developed elsewhere in the country and present a cohesive overview. The Survive and Thrive project is the only one of its kind in the world outside North America and this project is a huge step forward in the care of people who have already suffered so much.
This is world leading cancer research taking place right here, right now which not only benefits local young people but which will eventually help all cancer patients, everywhere.
