Recently, my boyfriend Dan and I were invited to a private reception for supporters of The Brain Tumour Charity, hosted by Lord Adonis at the House of Commons. (Yes, Dan has joined me in this crazy world of fundraising...
Recently, my boyfriend Dan and I were invited to a private reception for supporters of The Brain Tumour Charity, hosted by Lord Adonis at the House of Commons. (Yes, Dan has joined me in this crazy world of fundraising and awareness raising!). Here, I give a low-down of the day, of progress made and of the exciting next steps in UK brain tumour strategy afforded to us by the legacy of Dame Tessa Jowell.
Our invites told us,
As part of the incredible community who inspire and support us each day, we want to thank you for our recent progress in defeating brain tumours. Please join us at the House of Commons to celebrate that progress, secure the advances made and continue the drive towards our goals of doubling survival and halving the harm that brain tumours have on quality of life.
Thanks to the commitment of our community and the spotlight shone so brightly by Tessa Jowell, our impact was recognised this year by Third Sector’s prestigious ‘Charity of the Year’ award.
Despite these advances, brain tumours remain the biggest cancer killer of young people and children. There is so much more to be done – join us and play a part in accelerating that change.
We eagerly accepted, and this week joined almost 200 guests – including those directly affected by a brain tumour, carers, parents, activists, politicians, advocates, supporters, clinicians and researchers – all with the same aim, effecting change for those who unwittingly find themselves in the brain tumour community.
Dan and I outside the main doors of the House of Commons.
After making our way through rigid security and then the grand surroundings of the House of Commons halls and corridors, we entered the House’s Terrace Pavilion on the banks of the Thames. Here, we had the opportunity to meet and speak with many fellow supporters about charity initiatives going on around the country – I met a lady who is aiming to get HeadSmart cards into new baby packs, a neurosurgeon involved in new research, and we also had a good chat with comedian and high profile charity supporter Hal Cruttenden about Underbelly‘s ongoing support of the charity in their gigs and events.
Next, an opportunity to hear from some prominent supporters of the charity in key speeches.
Lord Adonis introduced the key speakers to the floor, and Stephen Pomoroy, CEO of key charity sponsor Built Environment Communications Group, told us about how the compelling vision the charity puts forward made it stand out as their winning choice for sponsorship partner.
We heard from Jack Morris, the charity’s Chair of Trustees. Jack’s daughter Emily was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2015, and sadly passed away two years ago at the age of 31. Jack talked of the shock of realising that treatments for brain tumour patients have remained largely unchanged in the past 30 years, despite the advances made in other areas of cancer care during that time. His personal experiences make him extremely driven in his current role; working with a charity who, in his own words, “provide outstanding resources for information and support, and whose medical research is at the vanguard of improving survival and reducing harm.” His aim now is to prevent as many people and families going through the same as he and his family have, as he possibly can.
We heard from Jess Mills, daughter of Dame Tessa Jowell, who spoke inspiringly of her mother’s story. When Dame Tessa was diagnosed with glioblastoma in May 2017, devastatingly, it would be less than a year until she passed from complications relating to her brain cancer. Like Jack, Jess talked of the crushingly limited treatment options her mother was faced with during this time.
Back in January of this year, Dame Tessa earned a minute-long standing ovation for a speech she gave on brain tumour and brain cancer treatment in the House of Lords, saying, “In the end, what gives a life meaning is not only how it is lived, but how it draws to a close. I hope that this debate will give hope to other cancer patients, like me, so we can live well together with cancer, not just dying of it. All of us, for longer.” Jess talked of her mum’s, and now her family’s, aims to ensure that the most effective treatments are available to ‘the millions, and not just the millionaires’. This forms a key tenet of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission – which this month launches the Tessa Jowell brain matrix, a clinical trial which will enable doctors to treat brain tumours with drugs that are more targeted than ever before.
Jess spoke passionately of her own and her family’s goals, which echo exactly the two key points of The Brain Tumour Charity’s current five year strategy: to double survival rates (as Jess said, “none of us will rest until we find the means by which we make this disease non-fatal“), and halve the harm caused by brain tumours (“we want to be able to live well with cancer, not just die from it“).
Following Jess, Professor Colin Watts, leading neurosurgeon and chair of the Birmingham Brain Cancer Programme, further brought home the magnitude of Dame Tessa’s legacy, saying, “The power of one individual who can stand up in the right place and say the right thing at the right time, is that they can transform the agenda. They can open doors, minds and ears. Dame Tessa’s ability to do this, means we can now embed political change into everything we do.”
Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon central, agreed, saying, “Dame Tessa’s legacy was her ability to bring together all sides for the good of a cause – where else in government has Conservative and Labour come together willingly, and with such great enthusiasm, and said ‘here is a great thing we want to do’?”
Personally, I feel that this political buy-in to the need for change is Dame Tessa’s lasting gift to us, the brain tumour community; and I’m excited to see where this gifted acceleration can take us.
Addresses to the crowd: Lord Adonis, MP Sarah Jones and the charity’s CEO Sarah Lindsell making their speeches.
Last words were from the charity’s CEO, Sarah Lindsell, who provided us with a call to action: what is the one more thing that you can do to help the charity to accelerate change? Because we all know, a cure can’t wait.
I’m going to reflect upon this challenge and, as a new year’s resolution, pledge one more thing I can do to accelerate change for brain tumour patients (I have a few ideas…!). In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you: what one more thing will you be doing next year to accelerate this change?
Ange x