Loving husband reaches incredible fundraising target

A husband’s determination to create a lasting legacy to his late wife has resulted in over £115K being raised for The Christie Charity to establish The Janet Rooney Fellowship, dedicated to advancing research in hepato-pancreatic biliary (HPB) cancer.

This remarkable achievement is the result of an impressive fundraising campaign initiated by former property agent, Mike Rooney hailing from Todmorden in memory of his wife Janet. Mike, along with his friends Nigel Tobias, David Brooks and Paul Whitehead, recently undertook the challenging 500-mile Camino de Santiago trek across France and Spain. Together, they embarked on the historic pilgrimage, not only to honour Janet’s memory, but also to raise funds for a Fellowship focused on research into HPB, the rare form of cancer from which Janet passed away earlier this year.

Their fundraising efforts have exceeded all expectations ~ the initial target was £100K, which was the amount needed to fund the two-year Fellowship. With additional funds added from a special dinner dance event held last weekend, the total raised is now a whopping £115K!

Hosted by TV and radio presenter Jenny Powell, and held at the Midland Hotel, the gala dinner was a sold-out event to 400 guests. The evening featured a 3-course dinner with music and a quiz, which culminated in an auction and raffle with amazing prizes including a stay at a private Caribbean Island, holidays in Tuscany,Thailand and Barbados and a private dinner with a Michelin starred restaurant to name but a few, with all proceeds ~ including ticket sales ~ going to the The Christie Charity which supports the work of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

As part of the evening, Professor Juan Valle, the lead clinician of The Christie’s Neuroendocrine Tumour team and the consultant that treated Janet Rooney, took part in a Q&A about HPB, explaining the importance of research into this rare form of cancer. He explained how The Janet Rooney Research Fellowship will have a lasting impact and will allow The Christie to offer cutting edge clinical trials and innovative treatments.

“Janet would have been so, so proud to have seen so many family and friends supporting her and The Christie,” Mike commented. “It was a fitting tribute to a beautiful caring person.”

The Janet Rooney Fellowship will serve as a lasting tribute to Janet’s memory, and will play a crucial role in advancing research into HPB cancer, a condition that poses unique challenges in diagnosis and treatment. The Fellowship will provide the necessary resources to propel research efforts forward, making a meaningful impact in the field of cancer research and care.

Louise Hadley, Chief Executive of The Christe Charity said: “We are incredibly grateful to Mike and his friend’s commitment to their fundraising challenges. By funding a research fellow they will not only be honouring Janet’s memory, but also making a very real difference to other patients in the future. Without supporters like them, The Christie would not be able to do the remarkable work it does. We really can’t thank them enough.”

To support the work of The Christie Charity, please go to: 

Donate today (christie.nhs.uk)

or ring:

0161 446 3988

The Christie Charity supports the work of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust providing enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds. This includes money for care and treatment, research, education, and extra patient services. Gifts from the public make a huge difference to the care and treatment that The Christie is able to provide to patients and their families.

The Christie Charity provides enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds.

The Christie Charity fundraises for vital new projects such as a new cancer centre in Macclesfield which opened in 2021 and a new world-class transformational research facility which opened in 2023.

Find out more at:

www.christies.org/the-christie-charity/why-we-need-your-help/what-we-are-fundraising-for

The Christie Charity is one of the largest NHS charities in the UK, providing enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds. It has over 50,000 supporters who helped raise £23m last year. 88p in every pound raised goes directly to the patients, ensuring the money donated is spent where patients need it most.

Supporters can find out how to donate at: 

www.christies.org/the-christie-charity/donate

About The Christie NHS Foundation Trust:

• The Christie is a specialist cancer centre in Manchester and has more than 100 years of expertise in cancer care, research and education. It is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year.
• It is the largest provider of radiotherapy in the NHS (including high energy proton beam therapy and MR guided radiotherapy); it is home to the largest chemotherapy unit in the UK; and is a specialist surgical centre concentrating on rare cancers and complex procedures.
• The Christie is one of Europe's largest experimental cancer medicine centres and an international leader in research and development with around 650 clinical studies ongoing at any one time.

HPB cancer originates in the liver, gallbladder, pancreas and neuroendocrine system. The neuroendocrine system is made up of nerves and gland cells. It makes hormones and releases them into the bloodstream. It controls the entire spectrum of human behaviour including language, growth, eating and drinking and even how the body responds to stress. In the UK alone, approximately 10,300 cases of pancreatic cancer are recorded every year. However, only 1 in 4 survive for one year or more, and just over 7% survive longer than five years.

Historically there were few options available to treat patients with HPB cancers. The high mortality associated with HPB tumours serves as a driver for researchers at The Christie to understand how the cancers develop and discover novel treatment options and improve outcomes for patients affected by these diseases.

Clinical Research Fellows

Clinical Research Fellows are highly trained, motivated and versatile doctors who are involved in all aspects of clinical and translational research. They have unparalleled access to clinical and technical experts with a wealth of experience in their specialist fields and support a significant increase in research activity (and income) through involvement in patient care, patient recruitment to clinical trials, trial protocol development for investigator-led studies, grant applications and manuscript writing. 

Clinical research is critical to accelerating discoveries from the laboratory into clinical practice. That is why The Christie is committed to training the next generation of clinical researchers, so they are equipped with the skills and expertise to enable them to succeed and become the clinical leaders of the future.

Clinical Research Fellows play an active role in both clinical and research activities at The Christie and therefore help to improve patient outcomes through involvement in potentially practice-changing research. Specifically, the additional support provided by a HPB Fellow post will enable the HPB team to dedicate more of its time to research and educational activities.

Clinical Research Fellows are encouraged to develop and lead on their own research projects and contribute towards an increase in treatment choices available to patients through the clinical research that will be supported as a result of this investment. Fellows also help the development of a personalised and precision approach to treating patients with cancer.  Long term, there will be benefits in terms of improved survival rates for patients.

The two-year Fellowship in HPB/NET will provide additional capacity within the HPB/NET team to enhance and develop the research activities and opportunities within this disease group area.

The HPB/NET team has recruited a Clinical Research Fellow who is a very experienced doctor from Egypt, and it is hoped that The Christie hospital may have the Fellow in post by the end of November of this year.

The primary objective of the Clinical Research Fellow is to help to facilitate high quality research.

The appointed Clinical Research Fellow has already made a substantial impact in the clinical research field. He is considered a ‘rising star’ who will accomplish much in his career and will become a much respected and influential leader in the future. It is testament to the world-renowned reputation of The Christie and its cutting-edge research that they were able to attract candidates of this calibre.

The Clinical Research Fellow will review new patients, discuss and recommend clinical trial options and where appropriate recruit patients into clinical trials. They will be involved in and oversee the day-to-day activities of clinical trial delivery, including patient assessment and will address research nurse and trial co-ordinator trial queries.

The Fellow will have supervision from the consultants in the HPB/NET disease group, who provide mentoring and training throughout the fellowship to achieve agreed academic and clinical goals.

The HPB/NET disease group already has a national and international track record of delivering practice-changing research with direct benefits to patients.

It is anticipated that two years of funding will ensure the Fellow has adequate research time to assist in the development of investigator-initiated proposals, potentially in submitting grants, present at national and international meetings and generate publications.

Pictured - Jenny Powell, Mairead McNamara, Mike Rooney, Professor Juan Valle, Nigel Tobias and David Brooks; Mike and Janet Rooney; Janet Rooney; 3 trekkers: David, Mike & Nigel; Mike and Nigel.