Middleton couple at Westminster as charity marks decade of achievement

Alex and Neil Taylor

Middleton couple Neil and Alex Taylor were recently invited to Westminster to a reception to mark a decade of collaboration and achievement by Brain Tumour Research.

Neil and Alex Taylor were among guests invited to mark the charity's tenth anniversary. The couple are working with the charity and their fundraising group Neil’s Appeal launched last year has raised more than £15,000.

Neil, 32, was diagnosed with a grade 3 astrocytoma after suffering seizures during his sleep. Like many other patients, he knows that treatment options are limited and is pinning his hope on research breakthroughs.

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The pair attended the reception held on Tuesday 30 April at Speaker’s House, by kind permission of the Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons. Mr Bercow is MP for Buckingham, the constituency where Brain Tumour Research was first launched, and also a patron of the charity.

Neil said: “We were delighted to be invited to this event to celebrate 10 years since the launch of Brain Tumour Research. It was a lovely occasion and great to meet up with so many people from the brain tumour community who have played a role in transforming research into brain tumours over the last decade or more.”

Brain Tumour Research Chief Executive Sue Farrington Smith MBE, who lost her niece Alison Phelan, to a brain tumour in June 2001, three weeks before her eighth birthday, said: “We have met so many astonishing, powerful, helpful, angry, devastated, yet determined people. Determined to join us in helping to fund the fight and find a cure for this devastating disease.

“The next decade is set to see huge advances in our quest to improve outcomes for patients and their families and we hope everyone will stay with us as we continue our work to improve treatments and, ultimately, find a cure for brain tumours.”

There are now 24 brain tumour charities working together under the umbrella of Brain Tumour Research and, between them, income has grown from £1.5 million in 2009 to £7 million now funding research and support each year.

The occasion was also marked with the launch of Brain Tumour Research’s new manifesto Find a Cure which sets out its plans to grow capacity in research into brain tumours, build research infrastructure, accelerate treatment options for patients, and to further  increase national investment in the field to £35 million a year by 2025.

Among those attending the celebration were other families, patients, and fundraisers from across the UK whose dedication and hard work have played a crucial role in the success of the charity. Guests included Caprice, who is a patron of Brain Tumour Research and a survivor of the disease, former EastEnders actor and patron Ian Reddington, scientists, researchers and representatives of other charities, notably the 24 member charities from across the UK.

Since it was launched in April 2009, Brain Tumour Research has:

• Driven an increase in the national investment in research into brain tumours and grown its own fundraising to c£4 million a year.
• Empowered patients and their families to have a voice and, through fellow charities, there is now greater access to support and information.
• Achieved an all-time high of awareness of the disease in the media, on social media, and amongst parliamentarians.
• Transformed research into brain tumours in the UK through building capacity in pioneering research and establishing its four dedicated Centres of Excellence.