Summer Newsletter 22/23

Hello everyone, the last year has been one of the most successful years

Beatson Cancer Charity has ever had. We raised record funds which allowed us to fund and deliver projects that have positively touched the lives of thousands of people. We are so proud of the work we do. From delivering person-centred wellbeing support in The Beatson, Specialist Health and Work Services for people living with cancer, group programmes and bereavement support for people and their families, to funding a whole range of special pioneering research initiatives and clinical projects. It truly has been an amazing year. Quite simply we could not do this without your help and support along with our yellow army of volunteers. We are privileged to have the support of thousands of people. Your generosity and ongoing commitment to our work is staggering and for that we are truly grateful. We think it’s important to share our stories with you, so I hope you enjoy reading about some of this work in more detail in the latest edition of our newsletter. With very best wishes and a colossal thank you.

Martin Cawley CEO, Beatson Cancer Charity

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Get in touch

SWITCHBOARD 0141 212 0505 | www.beatsoncancercharity.org

FUNDRAISING TEAM fundraising@beatsoncancercharity.org

BEFRIENDING SERVICE befriending@beatsoncancercharity.org

SHAWS healthandworkservice@beatsoncancercharity.org

WIGS 0141 301 7439

THE WELLBEING CENTRE info@beatsoncancercharity.org 0141 301 7667

GROUP SUPPORT: LIVING WITH UNCERTAINTY/FEAR OF RECURRENCE supportservices@beatsoncancercharity.org

VOLUNTEERING volunteering@beatsoncancercharity.org

BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT bereavementsupport@beatsoncancercharity.org

We are thrilled to announce our incredible Kiltwalkers have helped us reach a milestone of raising £1 million for our charity! Our charity has taken part in The Kiltwalk since the event opened to all organisations in 2017. Since then, we have been grateful to the almost 4,000 people who have taken part to raise money for Beatson Cancer Charity. We would also like to thank Sir Tom Hunter and The Hunter Foundation, who have topped up the total raised by supporters between 2017-2022. The money donated through sponsored walks allows us to support so many patients and their families across the west of Scotland.

If you missed out on the Kiltwalk and would like to participate in a walking event for our charity, sign up to Off the Beatson Track!

We are delighted that our Wellbeing Centre has now extended its opening hours to Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm and Saturdays 10am to 5pm.

This is an incredible step forward in our support for patients and families. We have increased our outpatient podiatry clinic to one and a half days per week and the service is continuing to be really popular.

Did you know that our Wellbeing Services are also available at our satellite locations?

We work with our NHS colleagues across eight satellite locations. This allows us to provide wellbeing support in key wards, clinics and outpatients.

• Glasgow Royal Infirmary

• Lanarkshire Beatson

• New Victoria Hospital

• Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

• The Royal Alexandra Hospital

• Inverclyde Royal Hospital

• Vale of Leven Hospital and Vale Leven Health Centre

For more information on these locations call our Wellbeing Centre on 0141 301 7667.

The balconies at the Wellbeing Centre have been given a makeover and are looking fresh for the warmer months. This was made possible by a kind donation from W M Mann Foundation and Cruden Foundation. We want to say a special thank you to them for their support.

outreach services meet the team

Rebecca Duthart Specialist Health and Work Practitioner

“As a Specialist Health and Work Practitioner, I work closely with people who are experiencing impact on their working life due to cancer. I enjoy building a relationship with individuals when they are at some of the toughest points in their life, to support them to feel better equipped to manage these challenges. We aim to empower individuals to communicate their needs and come to positive outcomes with their employment. I am particularly looking forward to working with employers to share knowledge and experience to promote compassion and understanding in the workplace. Most of all, I feel lucky to be able to be there for that individual through what can be a really vulnerable time in their life.”

Frankie Rose Group Support Facilitator –Bereavement

“In general people tend to shy away from talking about death, so holding honest and open conversations for people to explore their grief feels like a very privileged position to be in. In group support, it is incredible to witness the bonds people form and the compassion they have for each other even in the presence of their own grief. Having conversations about death is essentially having conversations about life, and working in bereavement support continuously reminds me to appreciate and live my life.”

Dr Marta Correia Counselling Psychologist –Outreach Services

“My name is Marta, and I am a Counselling Psychologist. I work across different teams as part of our outreach services, predominantly in the group programme team, where I cofacilitate our “Fear of Cancer Recurrence” and our “Living with Uncertainty” group programmes. My favourite thing about the groups is seeing how supportive everyone is of each other and how ready and willing they are to normalise how someone else might be feeling and come up with different solutions if someone is feeling particularly stuck. It is truly a privilege to create a space where people feel able to share their worries and their fears, and know that they are not alone, whilst providing them with the tools and skills to make profound changes in their lives.”

Did you know?

We have a new section on our website where you can meet the rest of Outreach Services, as well as our other teams. Head to ‘About us - Who we are’ and see how you can get in touch with us.

can you help us deliver life-changing research?

Did you know there are certain cancer types prevalent in the west of Scotland that we currently don’t have curative options for?

This makes our research more crucial than ever.

Our goal at The Beatson is to make radiotherapy an effective, curative treatment for many cancers, especially those that are the hardest to treat.

We have lots of ideas for how to do this, but we need your support to be able to test them out by running clinical trials.

This could open new opportunities for people with cancer to participate in life-saving clinical trials, as well as generate new radiotherapy treatments at The Beatson.

Your continued support would help fund life-saving research for people facing a cancer journey.

Please donate what you can today by visiting: beatsoncancercharity.org/donate

£10

Could open new opportunities for people with cancer to participate in life-saving clinical trials, as well as generate new radiotherapy treatments at The Beatson.

off the beatson track

sunday 27th august

The last ten years have seen over 14,000 participants walk over 86,800 miles - making it Glasgow’s most yellow sponsored walk. This fun-filled 10k walk is perfect and accessible for all ages. We look forward to going Off the Beatson Track with you!

A great day out with family entertainment so please join us.

£10pp

Special sign up under 16’s and dogs go free!

sign up here

We have lots of exciting forthcoming challenges later this year…so why don’t you come and join us with your friends and family?

8-10 September

Zipslide the Clyde

1 October

Great Scottish Run

1 October

Loch Ness Marathon

3 November

Firewalk

beatsoncancercharity.org/events

“In 2021, I walked the 23-mile Kiltwalk with my mum, daughter, aunty and nephew and raised £4000 for Beatson Cancer Charity, who have always held a special place in our hearts, after they graciously nursed my aunt, as she lost her fight to breast cancer.

Little did we know that one year on, I would be standing at the Ladies Lunch, completely bald, winning the famous Mulberry handbag - as I too was receiving support from The Beatson, in my own fight against cancer. I found a lump in my right breast and within two weeks, on the 14th October 2021, I was diagnosed with grade 3 breast cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes.

Tears started to flow but I pushed them back in, hung up the phone, broke the news to my husband, got ready and drove to my friend’s house - because the next day was her wedding, and I was the bridesmaid.

I kept this life-changing information to myself and performed my bridesmaid duties allowing my friend to have the wedding day she deserved. I always get asked how I managed this, and the honest answer is - a couple of glasses of champagne, my husband’s hand and the knowledge that as soon as we broke the news of my cancer, our lives would change forever.

For over a year, our lives consisted of around 5 months of chemotherapy, surgery with full node clearance, 19 sessions of radiation, countless scans, blood tests and many more twists and turns throughout. Our lives were not our own and we found ourselves in a weird cancer bubble that to this day feels like a dream.

I made sure I saw my daughter Emma and son Tom out to school and nursery every day, no matter how awful I was feeling because being mum was my reason to fight, my reason not to give up.

I can’t thank my family enough for their love, support and faith in me as a fighter. Cancer took a lot from me; my hair, my body, my control, my fertility and, at times, my confidence.

But what it never took was my voice and I gained some of that control back, the first time I shared my story.

It is true what they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well cancer, you tried, but you failed...because one year on and I am in remission, living my new normal, continuing to raise awareness and give hope to anyone going through a diagnosis.”

beatson research and development fund

Beatson Cancer Charity awarded £1.36 million in grants via its Beatson Research and Development Fund for medical equipment, infrastructure and research projects.

£53,280 was awarded to The Beatson for funding a Clinical Fellow in Haematology focusing on multiple myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer.

This post will expand the multiple myeloma clinical trial portfolio at The Beatson which will enable myeloma patients to access much needed novel therapies.

The Beatson’s Haematology Team recently won the Myeloma UK Clinical Service Excellence Programme (CSEP) award for the second time.

Dr James Park

£66,950 was awarded to enable Dr James Park, Consultant Colorectal and General Surgeon to develop a new surgery and chemotherapy service at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for patients with advanced colorectal and appendix tumours (set to be the first in the west of Scotland). The funding will be used to buy a machine which heats up chemotherapy drugs and pumps them into the abdomen during surgery.

dr park said: “I would like to thank Beatson Cancer Charity for their financial support. The purchase of a hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy machine for the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital will allow us to offer surgery for a group of patients who, until now, have only been able to undergo such treatment in specialist centres in England. Having the opportunity to undergo treatment closer to home will hopefully make this much less stressful for patients and their families.”

A Ukrainian neurosurgeon secured a £30,000 grant for a PhD research project which aims to make photodynamic therapy more effective as a treatment for glioblastoma braintumours.

Professor Anthony Chalmers, Chair of Clinical Oncology at the University of Glasgow, and Dr Paul Brennan, Reader and Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at the University of Edinburgh, will be supporting and training PhD student and neurosurgeon Dr Nazar Vasyliv from Ukraine, as part of this project. Professor Chalmers

professor chalmers said: “This research project will investigate a new form of treatment for glioblastoma and look at ways to make photodynamic therapy more effective as a treatment for this aggressive brain tumour.

“I’d like to thank Beatson Cancer Charity for the support which will give a very promising Ukrainian neurosurgeon the opportunity to complete a 3-year PhD research project.”

Ukrainian Neurosurgeon Dr Nazar Vasyliv

fundraising news

emmie smillie charity foundation gift

Recently we were invited to a lunch hosted by the Emmie Smillie Charity Foundation and received a wonderful donation of £50,000.

We are truly thankful for this generosity which will broaden our work and help more patients and their families.

Our CEO, Martin Cawley, and Director of Fundraising, Morag Cunningham, attended the function at Trades House in Glasgow and were joined by some famous faces and sporting legends. This special day also honoured the late Walter Smith OBE, who was renowned for his charitable work and helped at one of our Beatson Banter online charity events in 2021.

In total, Emmie Smillie Charity gifted an astounding £500,000 to cancer hospices, hospitals, and local charities.

Martin Cawley said: “This donation allows us to fund a wide range of exciting initiatives at The Beatson, all of which improve the experience of people with cancer going through their treatment journey and beyond. These projects make a massive positive difference to people’s lives and we couldn’t do it without the support of individuals like Andrew Smillie and his family.”

We would like to thank the Foundation for their continued support.

corporate news

massive support from retailer currys

We were delighted to have support from 22 Currys stores across Scotland during the Easter weekend. They all took part in bucket collecting as well as some stores really getting behind the fundraising activities by taking part in cycling challenges, bake stalls and raffles.

The Falkirk store came out top of the leaderboard raising a fabulous £575 with Great Western Road a close second. All stores embraced the challenge, raising a total of £4,019.85 including Gift Aid. Thank you to all the Currys staff and their customers for making it such a successful weekend.

beat 6 now operating from new location

We are excited to announce the restaurant Beat 6, which previously opened in Dennistoun in 2021 to raise money for Beatson Cancer Charity, has moved to Bearsden.

It is now located at 149 Milngavie Road, offering a delicious combination of unique food and social good. We are very grateful that 100% of the restaurant’s profits come directly to our charity.

The restaurant is run by the team behind Six by Nico and invites guests to “Dine to Donate”. It’ll offer a monthly rotating 4-course set menu that will give diners an interactive and unique dining experience.

Six by Nico and their customers have already raised an incredible £350,000 for Beatson Cancer Charity through a series of team events across their eleven locations in the UK since the collaboration formed in 2021.

Restaurateur Nico Simeone’s wife, Valentina, is one of thousands of Scots who have benefited from being treated at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre.

Nico Simeone said: “We, like many others, have a special place in our hearts for The Beatson, and we will be eternally grateful for everything they do on a daily basis to help change the lives of those affected by cancer.

“Our new Bearsden neighbourhood location will continue to raise vital funds for the charity and the staff to whom we owe so much, while also giving our team the opportunity to be a part of such an important cancer awareness journey.

“Our donations of over £350,000 to date are just the beginning, and Beat 6’s new home in Bearsden is one of the most exciting fundraising initiatives we’ve ever been a part of.”

community news

q&a with youth philanthropy initiative winners

A group of fifth year pupils at St Mungo’s High won £3,000 for Beatson Cancer Charity after taking part in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI). They chose to raise money for our charity after their friend, Brooke McGuiness, went through treatment at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. We spoke to team leader, Thomas Campbell.

What is the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative?

It is a project undertaken by a lot of schools in Scotland. We were set into groups and had 10 weeks to reach out to a charity, get their approval and create a presentation which would be judged and voted on. The winning team would receive a £3,000 grant for the charity of their choice.

Why did you choose Beatson Cancer Charity for your YPI project?

We had heard a lot of great things from those we know, such as Brooke herself as well as our Physics teacher, whose dad received help from The Beatson. We knew that if we selected them, we could make a massive impact on our school community.

How pleased were you to win?

Obviously, there’s a sense of competition to these kinds of things, and to have been selected as having the best cause and presentation was thrilling and made all members of the group incredibly happy. Not only this, we were so pleased to have helped a charity that has supported our friends, family, and people close to those in our school community.

What does it mean to your team and Brooke?

It means the world to me that I could have a hand in giving such a hardworking and amazing charity money which will go towards saving lives. It is hard to put into words how much news like this would mean to someone like Brooke, whose life was saved by The Beatson. What she told us about your charity really motivated us to work on this project, and we could not have done it without her.

our new fun way for schools and clubs to learn more about beatson cancer charity. Download our game on www.beatsoncancercharity.org /in-your-community

(L-R): Jakson Baillie, Bennon Baillie, Harmin Chand, Thomas Campbell and Hussnan Ali.

events

We have had a successful run of large-scale events over the last few months. Here’s a shout out to the many supporters who attend our events, the suppliers and donors of auction prizes.

bard & his belles

burns supper

friday 20th january

Event sponsors | Autorek

ladies lunch

sunday 26th march

Event sponsors | Autorek

sporting dinner

thursday 4th may

Event sponsors | GM Civil & Structural Consulting Engineers Ltd

dates for your diary

1st Sept | Business Ambassadors Golf Day | Dundonald Links

9th Sept | Beatson Ball | Cameron House Resort

new events

29th Sept | The Chefs’ Table | The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

7th Oct | Strictly Beatson | Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central

For queries and bookings, please contact susan.brodie@beatsoncancercharity.org

introducing our special edition care love hope range

We are excited to be launching our first loungewear collection, designed to raise both charity funds and comfort levels. The collection features bold and stylish clothes and more! Including hoodies, joggers, stationery, homeware and jewellery - all with our inspiring message of care, love and hope.

This collection is perfect for those who are on the lookout for practical yet fashionable gifts, while also supporting Beatson Cancer Charity. As with all our trading products, all profits from each sale go directly to charity, helping to fund research, services, and support for cancer patients and their families. To view all the products in this collection, please head to: shop.beatsoncancercharity.org

volunteering

ward volunteers

In early May, we were delighted to announce that ward volunteering within The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre celebrated its fifth birthday. Ward volunteering was introduced in 2018 and involves volunteers giving their time to visit patients in the wards, offering companionship and someone for patients to talk to. This helps to reduce loneliness and isolation for patients. If you are interested in helping us, we have a selection of roles that you could consider. Help give us a few hours, a few days or even sign up for a regular volunteering opportunity. We would love to hear from you. Please visit beatsoncancercharity.org/

get-involved

staff award nomination

We are delighted to share the news that Paul Sheerin, our Volunteer Co-ordinator, has been shortlisted for Employee of the Year at the SCVO Awards 2023. This is an incredible nomination and we are so proud of all Paul has achieved. Most of our supporters will know Paul through our volunteering services, or they may have come across his incredible fundraising achievements – having raised over £100,000 for our charity. We know our volunteers love Paul and he is a joy to watch as he has a natural affinity with patients. Find out how he got on...check website for latest details.

gardens outside hospital

Looking splendid –check out our green space areas around the hospital. Thanks to our Beatson in Bloom volunteers for the upkeep upkeep of the gardens.

get involved...

There are many ways to support us. Look out for our new fundraising pack, available online, packed with ideas and downloadable resources. It provides fundraising information for Corporate, Community and Education, and explains the importance of Gift Aid, with a section on frequently asked questions.

news from beatson café

get healthy the beatson way!

With summer approaching we have a range of salad boxes available to order.

Our boxes include: salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion with a topping of either chicken, tuna, cheese and coleslaw. Choose your own ingredients and make a unique box that suits your tastes!

Are you tired of the long queues? Get down to the Beatson Café and enjoy our speedy service! We now have 2 tills, 2 coffee machines, and 2 merry chefs to ensure a smooth flow for our customers. Our new refurbishment has made the café an even better place to grab something to eat or drink, so come down and see it for yourself!

Not only can you enjoy a quick bite, but our increased size means that we have extended our retail space. Now our supporters have the chance to browse some amazing products whilst supporting the charity.

When the sun finally comes out, we have our all-new benches for all to enjoy. Three benches have been donated by supporters of Beatson Cancer Charity for patients at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre to use. Thank you to Arnold Clark, Charlie & Marie Limond and The Simeone & Colaluca family who each paid for a bench at the hospital. These benches are located at the front of The Beatson for patients and their families to enjoy.

did you know that you can set up a tribute fund in memory of a loved one?

You can make a donation to Beatson Cancer Charity via our Tribute Fund in memory of your loved one, so everyone who cared about them can celebrate their life and raise money in their name for years to come.

Arlene Newbigging Grady In loving memory of her Dad, Bob.

Visit

“The Tribute Fund has been a comfort to me and the family as it is a super way to remember Dad who loved walking and being out in the fresh air when he was fit enough. When I am out running to raise funds in his memory the Tribute fund is a nice way for friends who donate to see him when he was at his best! Knowing that fondly thinking of Dad makes his spirit alive to others.”

your legacy will be much more than a gift in your will.

By leaving a gift in your will, you can help us make sure future generations are able to benefit from the best possible care.