A spotlight on Pancreatic Cancer
Guest Blog from Caroline Purewal at Pancreatic Cancer UK
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month which is one of the busiest periods of the year for Pancreatic Cancer UK and for me, in my role looking after the Pancreatic Cancer UK Donations Team. The month sees our supporters coming together to take part in events to raise awareness and funds, the charity holds campaigning events in all UK parliaments, increases media activity and arranges for landmarks and buildings across the UK to be lit purple to put a spotlight on the disease to ensure it gets the recognition it deserves I don’t just work for Pancreatic Cancer UK. Having lost my mum to the disease, I am also a supporter and as such, I really appreciate the importance of this month and its impact on awareness.
Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer
Pancreatic cancer is the toughest cancer to diagnose, treat and survive. It is the fastest killing cancer in the UK, with 1 in 4 people not surviving for a month and 3 in 4 not surviving for a year. These are truly shocking statistics. And perhaps even more shockingly, pancreatic cancer research still only receives 2% of the annual UK cancer research spend. In the last decade we have seen small but significant signs of progress for pancreatic cancer, but there is so much more we need to do. Research is the only way to find new treatments for this devastating disease, but this takes time and funding. Projects which start today may not show results for years and that’s why it’s so important that Pancreatic Cancer UK funds research long into the future.
Legacies
My mum died within a month of her pancreatic cancer diagnosis and I am understandably extremely passionate about the cause. I am fortunate to have seen first-hand the impact of gifts in Wills for Pancreatic Cancer UK and how we use legacies to invest in world class research to achieve the maximum impact. Gifts in Wills enable us to fund the ground-breaking research that has a real chance of ensuring that today’s statistics become a thing of the past. That’s why I, some time ago, decided to leave a gift in my own Will to Pancreatic Cancer UK. I’m incredibly proud of the work Pancreatic Cancer UK is doing to change the future for all those affected by pancreatic cancer but so much more needs to be done. I know that my Will can help transform the lives of the next generation of people with pancreatic cancer. My hope is that it can help ensure that families in the future don’t have to suffer the heartbreak I have.
All the efforts of our supporters this Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, as well as my gift in my Will, will help us to get there.
To find out more contact: Caroline Purewal, Fundraising Finance Manager legacies@pancreaticcancer.org.uk www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk
