Unity Bands available at Cancer Research UK shops across Lincolnshire as charity celebrates its 20th birthday on awareness day
PEOPLE in Lincolnshire are being urged to show support on World Cancer Day for everyone affected by the disease.
Cancer Research UK is calling on the public to donate or wear one of the charity’s Unity Bands with pride on Friday, 4 February – a day that also marks its 20th anniversary.
Every year around 29,400 people are diagnosed with cancer in the East Midlands*.
Wearing a Unity Band is a way of showing solidarity with those affected. Available in three different colours – pink, navy and blue – it can be worn in memory of a loved one, to celebrate people who have overcome cancer or in support of those going through treatment.
Marked on 4 February, World Cancer Day is an international initiative, uniting people across the globe to take action against the disease.
For Cancer Research UK the awareness day takes on extra significance this year as the charity celebrates its 20th birthday and pays tribute to its supporters for the part they have played in funding cutting-edge research.
Their generosity has helped to reveal more of cancer’s secrets and more ways to beat it – leading to more people than ever in the UK surviving their cancer for 10 years or more.
Although formed in 2002, the organisation’s history dates back to the founding of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in 1902. Its work has been at the heart of some of the biggest developments in cancer, from radiotherapy to some of the most used cancer drugs around the world today.
By donating or getting a Unity Bandpeople in the East Midlands can help Cancer Research UK to keep making breakthroughs such as this, as it fights back from the impact of the pandemic.
Michael Jarvis, spokesperson for the East Midlands, said: “This past year proves, more than any other, the value of investing in science and medical research. Thanks to our supporters, we’ve achieved so much. Every day we see the benefits of research we’ve previously funded being realised, helping people live longer and healthier lives.
“1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime**, so we’ll never stop striving to create better treatments for tomorrow. That’s why, as we mark our anniversary this World Cancer Day, we hope people across Lincolnshire will wear a Unity Band with pride – knowing they’re helping to save and improve lives for generations to come. We’ve come so far and we’ll go much further. Together, we will beat cancer.”
Cancer Research UK was able to spend over £1 million in the East Midlands last year on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.
Unity Bands are available in Cancer Research UK shops and online at cruk.org/worldcancerday for a suggested donation of £2.
FACT FILE: A LEGACY OF RESEARCH
20 years of Cancer Research UK. 120 years of life-saving discoveries.
World Cancer Day on 4 February marks 20 years since Cancer Research UK was formed. However, its history goes back much further, to 1902, with the founding of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
In that time the charity has made transformative steps in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer including:
- Helping to double breast cancer survival in the UK over the last 40 years
- Helping to prove the value of cervical screening, which now prevents thousands of deaths every year
- Being a key player in the development of radiotherapy, which now benefits more than 130,000 patients every year in the UK
- Helping to prove the link between tobacco and cancer, preventing millions of deaths worldwide
1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime**. All of us can support the research that will beat it.
To play your part visit cruk.org/worldcancerday.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.