Wigan cancer survivor backs charity's vital new appeal to fund research

Daniel Anders is supporting Cancer Research UK as it launches an urgent appeal for donations.

After the cancellation of fund-raising events like Race for Life, the charity is expecting a staggering £160m drop in income in the year ahead.

It has had to cut £44m in research funding, but this is likely to be just the beginning.

After being diagnosed with cancer aged just 23, Daniel, who was brought up in Ashton, owes his life to advances in treatment.

That is why he is helping to highlight the threat the funding gap poses to future breakthroughs for cancer patients.

This is brought to life in a new TV appeal showing a cancer patient finding out if her treatment has been successful, when the video pauses at the critical moment.

The message is clear – to save lives tomorrow, Cancer Research UK needs the public’s support today.

By sharing his story, Daniel, 31, hopes to inspire people to donate now.

Daniel was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2012. He had just finished training to be an events manager when he found a lump on his neck.

He had four rounds of chemotherapy and two weeks of radiotherapy treatment. Daniel, who lost both his grandparents to cancer, made a good recovery.

The former Cansfield High School pupil became director of his own home care agency and moved to Salford. He was given the all-clear from cancer in 2017.

He said: “My experience means I understand the importance of Cancer Research UK’s work all too clearly. I was absolutely devastated to be diagnosed with cancer at such a young age.

“It’s thanks to improved treatments that I’ve been given more precious time with my loved ones, so it upsets me to think about research being delayed and what this might mean for people affected by cancer in the months and years to come.

“By boosting funding now, we can all help to lessen the future impact on patients. So, I hope that people will be moved by the charity’s determination to carry on beating cancer and give what they can. They could make a real difference to people like me.”

The charity’s work has been at the heart of progress that has seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

But due to the coronavirus pandemic, promising projects are being held up.

Jane Bullock, Cancer Research UK spokesman for the North West, said: “We’re grateful to Daniel for helping to underline the stark reality of the current situation.

“Covid-19 put so much of our research on pause, leaving us facing a crisis where every day and every pound counts.

“With around 41,000 people diagnosed with cancer each year in the North West, we will never stop striving to create better treatments. But we can’t do it alone.

“Whether they donate, sign up to Race for Life at Home or shop at our stores, with the help of people in Wigan, we believe that together we will still beat cancer.”

Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, Cancer Research UK was able to spend more than £30m in the region last year on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research - helping more people like Daniel survive cancer.

The charity has played a part in developing eight out of 10 of the world’s top cancer drugs, but progress such as this is under threat due to a devastating loss of funding caused by Covid-19.

There are lots of different ways people in Wigan can help to get life-saving research back on track.

These include:

Making a donation at cruk.org/give

Taking part in Race for Life at Home

Signing up to Cycle 300

Shopping at the recently re-opened Cancer Research UK stores