Lingen Davies Cancer Fund has spent almost £1,000,000 on equipment, services and projects in the community this year and is celebrating supporting people at various stages of their cancer journey.

As well as £815,248 spent in 2024, the charity has also agreed to fund a further £176,000 piece of kit to benefit patients in the new year.

The region’s primary cancer charity which works to improve the lives of people before, during, and after a cancer diagnosis in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and Mid Wales has funded services and projects including state of the art radiotherapy equipment and an extensive programme of holistic therapies.

The phenomenal sum has also funded the organisation’s LiveLife Cancer Awareness work delivered by the charity to encourage more people to seek an early cancer diagnosis. The charity’s health engagement team works to share information about the signs and symptoms of cancer, how everyone can adopt healthier lives to try and prevent it, and where to turn for assistance if there are any concerns. More than 600 volunteers have also been recruited and trained as cancer champions as part of the drive to spread awareness and encourage more people to have everyday conversations about cancer.

Lingen Davies has spent £815,248 on a range of holistic therapies for those living with and beyond cancer including Scar Massage Therapy delivered by EL Beauty in Telford, Tai Chi with Faye Yip in Telford, Yoga and Tai Chi at Jenna Blair Yoga, Horticultural Therapies with Bloomin Lovely in Shrewsbury, and dance classes with I Can Dance Shrewsbury. Other projects which have been funded this year include Restore and Renew in Nature at Fordhall Farm in Market Drayton, wild swimming for breast cancer patients at Alderford Lake in Whitchurch, and the iCan Cancer Rehabilitation programme that is delivered in four locations across the region and online.

The innovative Surface Guided Radiotherapy technology (SGRT) was funded thanks to a donation from Telford Plaza Ltd valued at £416,666. The technology improves the accuracy and speed of cancer treatments and removes the need for patients to have permanent tattoos as a reminder of their radiotherapy. Breast cancer patients have already benefited from this so far.

Additional equipment purchased to improve cancer services for patients in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital include a water cooler for urology, a grossing station to increase efficiencies in processing biopsies, and a dermatology couch. A further £167,000 has been pledged to fund a Six Degrees of Funding Couch that will improve the accuracy and experience for radiotherapy treatment.

Fundraising has come from a wide range of sources including trusts and foundations, third party fundraisers, challenge eventers, legacies and in-memory giving, and more than £60,000 from corporate sponsors including Pipekit, Fodens, Medequus. Aico, Decostitch, DMOS, SY Homes, Lowfield Timber, SJ Roberts Construction, Lyreco and many more. In addition, fundraising committees made up of dedicated volunteers have raised more than £77,000 this year.

The charity also offers a free legal advice clinics allowing patients to chat to a professional about a legal concern that is causing them concern, distress, or anxiety, via partners at Fodens, Lanyon Bowdler and PCB. They are hosted at the Macmillan Cancer Support Service in the Hamar Centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and can be booked in advance online via the Lingen Davies website.

Naomi Atkin, CEO of Lingen Davies, says: “We continue to be incredibly grateful to our many supporters and are in awe of the lengths people go to for the benefit of others. Lingen Davies has raised more than £1,000,000 for each of the last three years and we are confident of exceeding that total this financial year.

“The hard work and dedication of so many in our community means that we can continue to fund large-scale equipment at the Lingen Davies Cancer Centre, as well as developing our programme of holistic therapies that has so far benefitted more than 500 people this year alone.

“We’re incredibly proud that we have been able to fund equipment, projects, and services to really benefit our community. Through our LiveLife and Cancer Champions services we are working to promote the signs and symptoms of cancer, encourage people to engage in conversations around this and hopefully save lives. And the amazing variety of grant-funded holistic and we know that these offer exponential benefits to people on their cancer journey.”

You can find out more about the projects and services funded by Lingen Davies at www.lingendavies.co.uk/cancer-hub/projects-for-patients

To apply for funding for a project that will benefit cancer patients in 2025 please contact hello@lingendavies.co.uk or call 01743 492396.