Fund raisers reach milestone

With Montgomeryshire demand for radiotherapy treatment at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) increasing by five per cent each year, the dream of purchasing an additional world-class Linear Accelerator moved a step closer this week.

The Lingen Davies Cancer Fund has announced that their bid to raise £750,000 by the end of 2016 has reached the halfway stage.

“We are absolutely delighted to have reached £379,402 by the middle of November but there is still a long way to go before we reach the £750,000 target,” said Louise Dawson, Fundraising Manager.

“The aim now is to push for £400,000 by the turn of the year and hit our target by the end of 2016.

“To have such ambitions wouldn’t be possible without all the wonderful people who have rallied together to support the appeal. We are extremely grateful for all the support and hopefully we can raise the second half of the money just as quickly as the first.”

With 50 per cent of patients diagnosed with cancer requiring radiotherapy treatment, an additional Linear Accelerator is essential to ensuring patients in Montgomeryshire receive treatment quickly and with minimum disruption to their daily lives.

Louise Killey, Radiotherapy Manager at the Lingen Davies Centre at RSH, said: “The Linear Accelerator will deliver a targeted dose of high energy radiation to shrink and destroy tumours.

“The advanced technology of the machine allows radiotherapy treatment to be targeted even more precisely, minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissue. The aim of this is to cure patients of their disease whilst improving their quality of life.

“Clinical staff at the hospital will be able to develop and deliver advanced radiotherapy techniques for certain types of cancer due to the high-level performance of the machine.”

For further information about the appeal and ideas about how you can help fund this piece of specialist equipment visit www.lingendavies.org.uk. You can also donate by sending a text message to LDAA15 £5/£10 to donate, for example LDAA15 £5.

PICTURE: The Linear Accelerator jigsaw inside the Lingen Davies Centre. Each piece represents £750 donated towards the appeal, meaning the jigsaw is now halfway to being completed.