Cancer Research UK: how your Will can help save lives

The same amount of people could fill the Manchester Arena to capacity, twice over. That is why research into finding new, kinder treatments and improved tests is vital. And research requires funding.

Many research projects across the UK benefit from the generosity of people leaving a gift to Cancer Research UK in their Will.

Husband and wife Barry and Sue from Wigan have been impacted by cancer – now they’re pledging a gift in their Will to Cancer Research UK, to help more people in the future.

It all started in 1997 when Sue’s mum died of suspected breast cancer, closely followed by her father, who died from prostate cancer just 18 months later. Not long after, her sister Jen went to the doctor with an abscess in her ear, only to discover she had a very aggressive form of cancer – sadly she too passed away in June 2000.

That same year, Sue attended a breast screening which came back as abnormal. She was called back and had a biopsy. A couple of days later, on 10 November 2000, Sue was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sue remembers those days clearly “I felt like my head was in a goldfish bowl, I was so scared after seeing what cancer had done to my family”.

Later that month, Sue had a lumpectomy to remove the cancer, followed by radiotherapy. After this treatment, which went well, she was given Tamoxifen, which Cancer Research funded the trials for, and then later Arimidex.

Barry says: “Despite the toll that cancer has taken on our family we remain optimistic. We don’t call them problems we call them adventures; we always look on the bright side of life.

“We’ve decided to leave a gift in our Will to Cancer Research UK, as we just thought we must do something. We genuinely believe that Sue’s life was saved due to the drugs she had access to thanks to the help of Cancer Research UK.

“We attended a tour at the Cancer Research UK Institute in Manchester and met some of the researchers and saw the work they were doing first-hand. We saw all the progress Cancer Research UK is making and it was amazing. Early diagnosis and research is so important to save lives and we are both passionate about supporting a charity which will keep more families together for longer.

“Recently we doubled the amount we are leaving in our Will and we would give more if we could. It’s a simple process and we would recommend the Gift in Will Guide to anyone who wants to find out more.”

Gifts in Wills fund over a third of our life-saving research. These vital legacies, together with the commitment of the researchers to make progress are so important to helping those in the future who face cancer.

To find out more, get your free Gifts in Wills guide here.

Together we will beat cancer

*Based on the average annual number of new cases of all cancers combined excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (ICD10 C00-C97 excl.C44) diagnosed in North West between 2015 and 2017.