Employees at a King’s Lynn company took part in their annual walking challenge to help find a cure for brain tumours – the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under the age of 40.

Learning Resources, which makes and sells educational toys, has chosen the Brain Tumour Research charity as its charity of the year. As one of its fundraising challenges, staff members walked all the peaks along the the Langdale skyline in the Lake District recently, completing a distance of 18km with 1,200m of ascent.

Managing Director, Dennis Blackmore said: “Typically we choose charities involved in education or children, but recently I experienced the death of a friend’s husband, who was taken very quickly by a brain tumour. I was shocked to learn that less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years, compared with an average of 50% across all cancers. Added to this, historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours.

“Earlier in the year during our health and wellbeing week, we installed a static bicycle in our offices and raised money by cycling 350 miles in five days. For Halloween we are inviting staff to come in wearing their scariest outfits and donating £2 to the cause.

“To date we have raised £2,308.36 (including Gift Aid) and our aim is to raise £2,740, equivalent to one day of research at one of Brain Tumour Research’s Centres of Excellence. It will enable us to visit the centre, tour the labs and put a tile on the Wall of Hope.”

Michael Thelwall, Head of Community Fundraising at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We really appreciate the support of Learning Resources and send them our best wishes for a spooky dress-up day. The money raised will help us in our mission to build a network of experts in sustainable research. We are funding dedicated UK Centres of Excellence where scientists are focused on improving outcomes for patients and, ultimately, finding a cure.

“For too long, brain tumours have been a neglected cancer and we cannot allow this desperate situation to continue. Together we will find a cure.”

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.

If you have been inspired by Learning Resources efforts you can make a donation to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lruklangdaleskyline

For further information, please contact:
Liz Fussey at Brain Tumour Research on 07811 068357 Liz@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.