Take a group of determined people, add a swirl of icing, a sprinkling of sparkles, bake and enjoy over coffee with friends.

This was the recipe which added up to delicious fundraising success for Carla Dewane who is raising money for Brain Tumour Research and is inspired by her brother Tom who is living with the disease.

Along with Tom’s wife Hannah and other keen bakers, she produced a variety of cupcakes, traybakes, flapjacks, gateaux and slices. And the icing on the cake? Raising the extraordinary sum of £1,200 for the charity which funds a network of Centres of Excellence including one at the University of Portsmouth where scientists are focused on finding a cure.

The cake sale took place on Sunday 1^st October at Erin’s Nail and Beauty Salon in Trinity Street, Fareham, where Carla works. Next month Carla, aged 22, who lives in Portsmouth, will be taking on the Great South Run for the charity.

Tom, who is the eldest in a family of five children, was 18 and hoping to join the British Army when he was diagnosed with the disease which is the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under the age of 40. Now 30 and married with two small children, like many brain tumour patients he lives with the ongoing anxiety of what could happen in the future.

Carla, 22, from Portsmouth, is planning a number of events and hopes to raise £2,740 which will fund a day of research at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence in Portsmouth.

Carla, who is a senior beauty therapist at Erin’s, said: “We were so overwhelmed with the response to our coffee and cake event which far exceeded the amount we thought it would raise.

“It feels as if brain tumours are a forgotten cancer, yet they affect so many people and it is vital to raise awareness of the disease as well as raising money for research and encouraging the government and larger cancer charities to invest more in this area too.

Tom, a machine operator at Huhtamaki Group in Gosport, said: “I was astounded by the response to this event and am overwhelmed at the love and support everyone has shown and we’re now looking forward to cheering on Carla and her friend Devon Adsett from Whiteley when they do the Great South Run!”

Tom and Hannah live Gosport and have two children Cheryl-Louise, who is four, and Oscar-Myles who is two.

Tim Green, Community Fundraising Manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “The energy and determination of Tom’s family and friends to raise money for this vital research is contagious. They have done a brilliant job and we are extremely grateful for their commitment.”

To make a donation to Brain Tumour Research via Carla’s fundraising page please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/DevandCarlaGSR.

For further information, please contact:
Susan Castle-Smith at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867206 or 07887 241639 or Susan@braintumourresearch.org

Notes to Editors

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK focused on funding sustainable research to find a cure for brain tumours. We are building a game-changing network of world-class Research Centres of Excellence in the UK. Embracing passionate member charities nationwide, £5.5 million was raised towards research and support during 2016.

We are campaigning to see the national spend on research into brain tumours increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast cancer and leukaemia. The charity is celebrating a year of high-profile campaigning on this issue following the unprecedented success of its petition in 2016. Following that, Brain Tumour Research is now taking a leading role in the Government’s Task and Finish Working Group convened to tackle the historic underfunding for research.

Key statistics on brain tumours:

• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• They kill more children than leukaemia
• They kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
• They kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease
• In the UK 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers
• Incidences of, and deaths from, brain tumours are increasing.

Please quote Brain Tumour Research as the source when using this information. Additional facts and statistics are available from our website including our latest Report on National Research Funding. We can also provide case-studies and research expertise for media.