A wife who lost her husband to a brain tumour is helping to fund scientific research into finding a cure for the disease.

Judith Banks, 66, from Waterlooville, chose to fundraise for the pioneering charity Brain Tumour Research after her husband Stephen died from a brain tumour in September 2016 at the age of 64. Through hosting a number of fundraising events, Judith and her family raised nearly £6,000 to go towards research into the disease.

Judith was joined by their sons Paul and Russell, along with Russell’s partner Jenna and friends Stevie and Beverly, to place two tiles in Stephen’s memory on the Wall of Hope at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Portsmouth.

The centre, one of four receiving funding from the charity, is focused on research to improve treatments for patients with brain tumours and, ultimately, finding a cure. Each tile laid on the wall represents the £2,740 it costs to fund a day of research.

Stephen, who was the owner of Combat South in Portsmouth for nearly 20 years, was diagnosed in 2010 with an aggressive brain tumour after suffering from numbness in his right side. Despite being given a devastating prognosis that he was unlikely to survive another year, Stephen battled through chemotherapy and radiotherapy to live for a further six years. Judith is thankful that he got to spend this precious time with his two sons and his new grandchildren, Lucas and Alina before he died.

Judith said: “Stephen was an amazing man with such a passion for making the most out of the life you have. Even after he was diagnosed in 2010 and given the devastating news that he might have as little as six months to live, he remained positive and hopeful that he would beat the disease.  Being at the research centre and seeing what they are doing here, really draws attention to the cost of research and work that needs to be conducted to find a cure for brain tumours.”

Led by Prof Geoff Pilkington, the team at Brain Tumour Research’s Centre of Excellence at the University of Portsmouth is now one of the largest dedicated teams of lab-based researchers working on this disease within the UK. The team is currently working on five complementary research programmes to investigate brain tumours in both adults and children, including primary and metastatic tumours. Their goal is to create novel and multi-targeted therapies for the treatment of brain cancer.

Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, they kill more children and adults 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.

Tim Green, Community Fundraising Manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are really grateful to Judith and her family and friends for raising vital funds to support important research into a disease which affects so many people and their families each year. Stories like Stephen’s remind us all that we cannot allow this desperate situation to continue.”

To make a donation to Brain Tumour Research go to https://www.braintumourresearch.org/donation

For further information, please contact:
Lexie Jenkins at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867222 or 07591 206545 or Lexie.Jenkins@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 have established a game-changing network of world-class Research Centres of Excellence in the UK. Embracing passionate member charities nationwide, over £6 million was raised towards research and support during 2017.

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 unprecedented success of our 2015 petition led to the 2016 Westminster Hall debate and Brain Tumour Research taking a leading role in the Government’s Task and Finish Working Group convened to tackle the historic underfunding for research with the report being published in 2018.

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
• Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age
• 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.