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

Jenny Farthing, 69, from Winchester, chose to fundraise for the pioneering charity Brain Tumour Research after her husband Guy died from a brain tumour in October 2017. Through hosting a number of fundraising events, Jenny and her family have raised over £5,700 to go towards research into the disease.

Jenny was joined by their son Mark, as well as Guy’s younger sister Diana, to place two tiles 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.

Passionate about all things gardening and loving the slow pace of games like croquet, Guy was diagnosed in 2008 with a low-grade brain tumour after suffering from seizures, that were initially diagnosed a small stokes.

After winning a number of awards at Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court and Tatton Park, Guy retired from his career as a garden designer in 2012 to set up a small plant nursey from the family home. In 2015 he was admitted for a biopsy where it was revealed the tumour had grown and he would have to undergo treatment. Sadly, in October 2017 Guy passed away from the tumour, leaving behind, Jenny their two children, Mark and Katy and granddaughter Immie.

Jenny said: “Guy was a wonderful man with such a passion for making the most out of the life and for being outside in the garden. Being at the research centre all together 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 for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are really grateful to Jenny 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 Guy’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.