Christie bank losses returned

The Christie cancer hospital is to be paid back the £6.5 million it lost during Icelandic banking crisis.

The government will pay back the money via NHS North West, which was lost when the Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (KSF) bank collapsed last year.

Last month cancer patients, fund-raisers and Christie charity representatives delivered a 100,000-name petition to Downing Street calling for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to pay back the money and the Commons' powerful treasury select committee report recommended that the charity should be compensated.

In March the Financial Services Compensation Scheme decided that the Christie Charity would not be compensated but the 'Cash back for Christie' pressure has paid off.

The charity raises around £13 million a year to support Christie’s.

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen was part of the group that presented the petition to Downing Street last month. He said: “This is great news and I am delighted that the Government has finally taken action to give Christie’s their money back. This will be a massive weight off the shoulders of many of the hard working staff at the hospital who can now press on with their vital research free from financial uncertainty.

“Many people across Rochdale rely on the world class services at Christie’s and I know that the £6.5m was also earmarked for two radiotherapy clinics in Oldham and Salford which will now benefit hundreds of local people. The reversal by the Government just goes to show what power people hold when they come together and campaign for a good cause.

Leader of Rochdale Council, Councillor Alan Taylor, who signed the Christie’s petition on behalf of the Council said: “It really was great to see so many different people from Rochdale and across Greater Manchester coming together to campaign for such a worthy cause. Christie’s made the investment in the Icelandic bank in good faith and it would have been unfair for them to be punished for the banks failure. This is a fantastic result for staff and patients.”