A young couple who are fundraising to help find a cure for brain tumours say research is their only hope.

Neil Taylor, aged 33, has undergone surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with a grade 3 astrocytoma brain tumour last year. He and his wife Alex were recently married and looking forward to the birth of their first child when they were given the life-changing news.

Now they have launched a new fundraising group Neil’s Appeal, which will work with the Brain Tumour Research charity, to fund research into the disease which kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. They want to raise awareness of brain tumours and the fact that, historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the devastating disease.

The couple, who live in Middleton, Manchester, and whose daughter Annabelle, is now one, are inviting people to join them and their supporters – known as #TaylorsWarriors – at a launch party for their fundraising group from 7.30pm on Saturday 17^th November at Lock 91, Manchester. They will be talking about their experiences and there will also be chance for people to find out more about Brain Tumour Research and its work.

Alex, a qualifying paralegal at Gateley plc, said: “We have had such great support from our friends, family and the community since Neil’s diagnosis and we want to celebrate what we have achieved so far and explain to people why we are setting up Neil’s Appeal.

“Neil is just 33, a young dad with so much to live for, yet research into this horrible disease is so poorly funded. No-one knows what the future will bring but the truth is that research is our only hope.

“I am so proud of Neil. Even before his surgery he was raising money – it’s so typical of him that, even when he was going through the early stages of his diagnosis, he was still thinking of others and wanting to raise awareness of something he knew very little about.”

Neil, a franchise supervisor at McDonald’s, completed a 12 month course of chemotherapy in July. He was first taken ill in late December 2016 and was given the devastating diagnosis two months later. One minute they were sharing their baby news and the next they were telling people Neil had a brain tumour and needed surgery.

“I am determined to do what I can and not just for me but for other families who are affected. We are hoping to raise £10,000 for Brain Tumour Research. It is a cause which is so important to us and we are committed to doing all we can in order to raise as much money as we can to improve treatments and help find a cure,” said Neil.

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at Research Centres of Excellence in the UK; it also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is calling for an annual spend of £35m in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia.

For more information about Neil’s Appeal please contact neiltaylor84@hotmail.com.uk

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 dedicated to raising funds for continuous and sustainable scientific research into brain tumours, and we are a leading voice calling for greater support and action for research into what scientists are calling the last battleground against cancer.

We are building a network of experts in sustainable research at dedicated Centres of Excellence whilst influencing the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more nationally.

We welcome recent funding announcements for research into brain tumours from the UK Government and Cancer Research UK – £65 million pledged over the next five years. However, this potential funding of £13 million a year comes with a catch – money will only be granted to quality research proposals and, due to the historic lack of investment, there may not be enough of these applications that qualify for grants from this pot.

We want research funding parity with breast cancer and leukaemia. We are calling for a £30-35 million investment every year for research into brain tumours in order to fund the basic research groundwork needed to accelerate the translation from laboratory discoveries into clinical trials and fast-track new therapies for this devastating disease.

The Brain Tumour Research charity is a powerful campaigning organisation and represents the voice of the brain tumour community across the UK. We helped establish and provide the ongoing Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Brain Tumours (APPGBT). We are supporting the crucial APPGBT 2018 Inquiry into the economic and social impacts of brain tumours and will publish their report in the autumn. We are also a key influencer in the development strategy for the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. 

Key statistics on brain tumours:

• Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age
• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• Historically, Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours
• In the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia
• Brain tumours kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
• Brain tumours kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers

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