Charity stalwart Simon Tier completed a gruelling 100-mile cycle ride to raise funds for research to find a cure for brain tumours.

Simon, from Fareham, has already raised more than £25,000 for the charity Brain Tumour Research and raised over £500 from this event alone.

The charity funds a network of Centres of Excellence including one at the University of Portsmouth where scientists are focused on improving treatments for patients and, ultimately, finding a cure. Brain tumours kill more adults and children under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. The charity is striving to fund a network of seven dedicated research centres whilst challenging the government and larger cancer charities to invest more in brain tumour research.

Simon was among 24 cyclists riding for the charity in the Prudential RideLondon event, which is described as “the world’s greatest festival of cycling.” Over 25,000 riders turned out for the RideLondon-Surrey 100 mile sportive, which set off from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London on Sunday 30^th July, heading through the capital and out into the Surrey countryside, then returning to the finish on The Mall.  

Simon, who has been a tireless supporter of the charity following the diagnosis and loss of a close friend to the disease, said: “It was a great event. I really enjoyed meeting the other Brain Tumour Research riders and hearing their stories. It was a tough race for me, as I think I over did the amount of cycling in advance, but it has been fantastic to raise funds for the charity.”

Tim Green, Community Fundraising Manager for Brain Tumour Research in the south east, said: “Events like this help us to raise awareness of this awful disease and draw attention to the dreadful under-funding of research which has gone on for far too long. We are extremely grateful to Simon and to all our riders for their support and congratulate them on an amazing achievement.” 

To make a donation to Brain Tumour Research via Simon’s JustGiving page, go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/simon-tier

Brain Tumour Research is campaigning to see the national spend on brain tumour research increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast and leukaemia, in order to advance treatments, and ultimately find a cure.

 

For further information, please contact:
Lexie Dabney at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867222 or 07591 206545 or lexie.dabney@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.