A FUNDRAISING appeal to help bring radiotherapy treatment for local cancer patients to Swindon has reached its first milestone, thanks to a significant donation from the Malmesbury League of Friends.

Brighter Futures’ fundraising appeal is working to bring the much needed treatment centre to Swindon’s Great Western Hospital (GWH), meaning an end for many local patients to the long daily journeys to Oxford’s Churchill Hospital for treatment.

The £2.9m fundraising target will help purchase two linear accelerators – the equipment used to deliver radiotherapy for patients.

The fund was helped along by a £25,000 donation from the Malmesbury League of Friends who are passionate supporters of local healthcare causes.

Chair of Malmesbury League of Friends, Robin Clark, said: “One of our trustees has had to have treatment at Oxford, so it’s a cause close to our heart.

“One in three people suffer from cancer at some point in their life and hopefully this treatment centre will go some way to helping their lives.

“It takes an hour if you drive yourself, but with a hospital car it can take over two hours just to have a two minute treatment, plus the same drive back. Before you know it a whole day is wasted.

“When you’re not well you don’t want to have to be taking so much time to travel.

“A lot of people bequest us money after they die and some of that money was used for our donation.

“We may well give more to the cause if it is needed.

“So many things fall outside the system now, so we do anything we can to help.”

Jennifer Green, Brighter Futures’ Head of Fundraising, said: “We have had a fantastic response in the weeks since we publically launched our Radiotherapy Appeal and I would like to thank every single person who has fundraised or donated – your efforts really are for an excellent cause.

“It is brilliant that we have now raised more than £100,000, but we still have a long way to go before we get to our target.

“I look forward to working more with the local community on their innovative and exciting fundraising ideas to help bring the vision for radiotherapy treatment to Swindon a reality.”

The Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust on Wednesday, July 8, formally approved the radiotherapy centre plan.

This means that treatment at the hospital could be available by the end of 2017, if the Trust Development Authority and NHS England rubberstamp the proposal.

Brighter Futures has organised several upcoming fundraising events, including Ride for Radiotherapy, where people can gather sponsorship to cycle 30, 70 or 100-mile routes in September.

More information about fundraising events can be found on brighterfuturesgwh.nhs.uk.
You can donate by texting SWIN29 followed by your donation of £5 or £10 to 70070.