A DECADE OF VITAL CANCER SUPPORT FROM NEWCASTLE BUILDING
A lasting memento of the ten-year fundraising partnership between our Foundation and Newcastle Building Society has been unveiled this week.
Lady Elsie attended a reception at the Society’s headquarters at the Cobalt Business Park in North Tyneside to dedicate a commemorative bench which now sits inside the building.
Our Foundation formed our first and only financial partnership in 2012, with contributions made by the Society surpassing all early projections and now standing at well over £3m.
Lady Elsie was accompanied by sons, Andrew and Mark, while the reception was also attended by Stuart Miller, Newcastle Building Society’s chief customer officer, Dame Jackie Daniel, chief executive at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Jon Goodwin, head of grant programmes at the Newcastle Hospitals Charity.
Together, we also recently released a film to help mark the anniversary. It highlights the practical benefits that the donations made by the Society and all our other supporters bring to cancer patients across the region, especially in terms of the extra time that advances in treatment give them with their families.
The film features 16-year-old Rebecca Henderson from Billingham and Keith Farquharson (48) from Heaton, who have both received pioneering cancer treatments funded and developed with the support of our Foundation.
Mark Robson, who is chair of trustees at the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, says: “My dad would be so thrilled by the exceptional support we’ve received from Newcastle Building Society over the last decade. They’ve always understood the importance of the work the Foundation funds, and the difference that makes to people facing cancer both now and in the future.
“My mum, brother and I are extremely proud to be here today to see this new bench unveiled and extremely grateful to the Newcastle for their generous and ongoing support. It is very much appreciated.”
Dame Jackie Daniel, chief executive at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, adds: “Over the last ten years, the support given by Newcastle Building Society for our Newcastle Hospitals Charity fund, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, has been nothing short of magnificent. Real progress has been made into cancer research through clinical trials during that time thanks to their generosity.
“Newcastle Building Society is a key partner in supporting the Foundation’s work in finding more effective ways to detect and treat cancer and we’re extremely grateful for their long-term commitment. If he was here today, I have no doubt theirs would be the first name on Sir Bobby’s team sheet.”
Andrew Haigh, chief executive at Newcastle Building Society, says: “Our colleagues have played a central role in the Society becoming the Foundation’s largest corporate donor and we wanted to mark the tenth anniversary of our partnership with something practical that they would see and be able to use every day.
“We are honoured that Lady Elsie and her family have visited our headquarters and have helped us to recognise the immeasurable impact that everyone who has either supported the Foundation or benefitted from its support has had across our region and beyond.”
The film marking the tenth anniversary of the partnership between the Sir Bobby Robson and Newcastle Building Society can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z9C0shl7uM
