Here’s to 2019 - a great year for Hope

What a year 2019 was for Hope! During the year we saw some amazing efforts from our fundraisers, some inspiring actions from our volunteers and some revolutionary studies from our researchers. 2020 - you’ve got a lot to live up to! Here’s what went down in the final year of the 20-teens:

We welcomed Vicki to the team

In April, Vicki Standing joined the Hope team as our Community Fundraiser! Vicki has made a huge impact with her natural ability to help and inspire communities arrange fundraising events. Her main focus so far has been community groups, clubs and schools, motivating the fundraisers of the next generation!

A year of breakthroughs

2019 saw Hope-funded researchers make much progress in the search for better cancer treatments and prevention methods. Some of the highlights include:

• Chemotherapy-free Leukaemia treatment - a study showed that patients reacted positively to new treatments for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia. This treatment means that patients may not have to undergo invasive chemotherapy to beat the disease. Find out more about the discovery here.
• Radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer – A study that included part-funding from Hope suggested that timing radiotherapy differently throughout treatment may lead to lower overall toxicity and fewer potential side-effects. Again, you can read about this ground-breaking research here .

Chris Trethewey swam the Channel

Hope-funded researcher and fundraiser, Chris, pulled on his swimmers and made his way across 21 miles of near-freezing seawater - all in aid of Hope! He raised over £10,000 for his efforts, which took place on the 12th of June last year. It might have been the middle of summer, but the water was a chilly 15° celsius! Check out exactly how Chris did it in our blog from 2019.

Fundraisers cycle 2,500 Furlongs

In September, 40 cyclists began the 340-mile trip around the north of England in aid of Hope! Our biennial Tour De Hope started and finished this year at Leicester Racecourse. The cyclist’s route took in the Yorkshire Moors as our fundraisers went through some of England’s most famous racecourses - Doncaster, York itself and Market Rasen. The event has now raised over £60,000 - an incredible achievement! Find out more here.

Escape The Wild 2019

Escape The Wild - three words that strike fear into the heart of even the most intrepid explorers. Also, three words that mean you’re spending four days in the wilderness raising money for Hope. In 2019, Tracey Hallam took our adventurers to the Lake Districtfor three nights of action, activities and all-round fun. We run this event every year, this year with the name ‘Survive The Wild’, you can find out more here .

2019 was an amazing year for Hope and we cannot thank all of our supporters enough - but 2020 is going to be even better. We are soon to launch our Hope For Life Appeal, aiming to raise funds that will mean doubling the size of the Hope Clinical Trials Facility. The Facility already does great work, but with double the bed-space and double the equipment, they’ll be able to take the fight to cancer to a new level. We’re looking for as many fundraisers a possible to raise the £1.5million we need - if you want to be one of those fundraisers, get involved now.