Charity appeal for equipment reaches £750,000 target four months ahead of schedule

A charity appeal to buy a new machine to treat cancer patients at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) has reached its £750,000 target nearly four months early thanks to the generosity of fundraisers.

Lingen Davies Cancer Fund launched the ACTION appeal in January 2015 and pledged to raise the money by the end of 2016 to help fund an additional Linear Accelerator (LINAC) for the Cancer and Haematology Centre at RSH.

A LINAC is a machine that delivers radiotherapy treatment to cancer patients. The department already has two machines, but a third is needed to help more people receive the treatment.

For every £750 donated to the appeal a jigsaw puzzle piece has been added to a large jigsaw. The final puzzle piece was placed in the frame today – meaning the jigsaw is complete and the equipment can be bought.

Liz Kyle, Acting Fundraising Manager at Lingen Davies which is an independent charity supporting cancer care in Shropshire and mid Wales, said: “We are extremely grateful for all the donations that have enabled us to reach our target. From small change to the proceeds from large-scale events, every penny really matters to a small charity.

“As ever, we are amazed by the variety of methods our supporters have used to raise money, including rickshaw rides, head shaves, spin-a-thons and a sponsored zipwire challenge by an 80-year-old.

“Supporters have foregone birthday and anniversary gifts and donated instead, and numerous cups of coffee and slices of cake have been consumed.

“We want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to the success of this appeal. Reaching the target early will help us to continue to purchase other equipment and facilities which support cancer patients in Shropshire and mid Wales, and we hope to announce our next project very soon.”

Louise Killey, Radiotherapy Manager at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) which runs RSH, said: “We’re absolutely over the moon that the appeal has reached its target. This is a fantastic achievement, particularly in reaching the target four months early. A new LINAC will cost around £1.5million and the Trust will match the rest of the funds for this, with the new machine expected to be installed in April 2017.

“Thank you to the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund for launching the appeal and to everyone who has provided so much fantastic support.

“The LINAC will make a big difference to our patients and will mean we can provide this important treatment to even more people.”

Dr Sheena Khanduri, Clinical Lead for Cancer Services at SaTH, said: “This will see the expansion of our Radiotherapy Service with an additional state-of-the-art linear accelerator machine to meet increasing demand and also to ensure that we can continue to deliver high quality radiotherapy with better outcomes for our patients.

“It is thanks to Lingen Davies and the incredible generosity of those who have donated. This has been achieved ahead of schedule and is truly remarkable. Thank you to everyone who has made this happen.”