Incredible £850,000 donation to boost new Yorkshire Cancer Research Centre in Harrogate

The grant from The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is the single largest single philanthropic gift Yorkshire Cancer Research has received in its 98-year history.

The funds are to be used to support a pioneering cancer exercise programme which will be run from the new centre which will be located at Hornbeam Park in Harrogate.

The new programme will build on the success of the existing Active Together service in South Yorkshire designed by Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC), funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and provided in partnership with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which has so far helped nearly 400 people with cancer.

Yorkshire Cancer Research Chief Executive Dr Kathryn Scott said: “This is the largest single philanthropic gift Yorkshire Cancer Research has received in its 98-year history, which really demonstrates the contribution this important programme will make to worldwide research and innovation.

"This significant and extremely generous donation from SNF will make a huge difference to people with cancer in Yorkshire.”

Evidence shows that exercise before, during, and after a cancer diagnosis can increase treatment options, while reducing side effects and complications and speeding up recovery from other treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy.

It can also reduce the risk of dying from cancer by up to 44% in those who are physically active compared to those who are inactive1.

The risk of cancer coming back in the future could be reduced by up to 66%2.

By 2025, it is anticipated that nearly 1,000 patients across Yorkshire will receive support through the charity’s expanded Active Together service.

The partnership between SNF, which was founded in 1996 to honor Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, and Yorkshire Cancer Research, which was founded in 1925, will also fund a new training and research exchange programme designed to increase worldwide understanding of exercise as a treatment for cancer.

The exchange will involve researchers and practitioners from Greece coming to the UK and vice a versa.

More information at: https://www.yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/