Antiques Roadshow expert, Theo Burrell, is backing our call for increased Government funding into brain tumour research. 

Theo, a specialist in fine furniture and decorative arts at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers in Edinburgh, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) in June 2022, aged 35.  

Now she is urging people to support our petition calling on the Government to ring-fence £110 million of current and new funding to kick-start an increase in the national investment in brain tumour research to £35 million a year by 2028. 

Theo said: “I’ve signed the petition and encourage others to do the same. It’s hard not to feel angry about the whole experience. Brain tumours are so underfunded, and they have such a poor prognosis. Brain cancer seems to be a few steps ahead of us, it’s outsmarting us.” 

Following her diagnosis, Theo underwent surgery which removed more than 90% of the tumour and then started radiotherapy and chemotherapy. 

When her treatment finished, Theo had a four-week break before undergoing six months of chemotherapy, which finished in April 2023. She now has check-up scans every three months; her most recent scan on 19^th July was stable.  

Theo added: “We can get a man on the moon, but we can’t cure brain tumours; it’s so frustrating that funding is so thin on the ground. So many young people get brain tumours, so we need to care for the next generation. Signing the petition is so important to get the 100,000 signatures, otherwise it suggests people don’t care.” 

Sign now to help us achieve 100,000 signatures by the end of October in the hope of prompting a parliamentary debate: www.braintumourresearch.org/petition  

If you have already signed, please keep sharing on social media and with your networks to help us achieve our goal. 

Related reading:

• Theo’s story
• Theo supports our petition on BBC News 

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