We are pleased to tell you that we have been very busy this past six months and have managed to raise over £23, 000 so far since April. We are grateful to all the runners and helpers who turned up for our annual Fun Run and helped raise £19,066. A special thank you to St John’s Surgery who contributed £6739.59 of this. Thank you to everyone who helped at the Elizabethan Market which raised £240. We were proud to receive the cup for the best stall. We are also very grateful to you for helping us with our collections at Tesco and Morrisons which raised respectively, £482 and £641 plus the benefit of the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme on both (extra 25%).
TESCO COLLECTION 12th OCTOBER:
We will be using buckets rather than tins and now have access to a card reader as we are aware that not everyone carries cash anymore and it may be easier to get a donation. If you are free anytime on that day, please contact Nicole nicnoelharris@aol.com
QUIZ NIGHT FRIDAY 18TH OCTOBER
This will take place at the Bromsgrove Rugby Club Bromsgrove at 7.30pm. Teams of 4 at £25 per team. Steve and his family will be present again. Contact Nicole on nicnoelharris@aol.com
CURRY EVENING FRIDAY 8th NOVEMBER
We will be having another Curry Night at Dine India in Catshill at 7.30pm. The cost of the meal is £25 per person and includes a choice from 3 starters and 3 mains, with rice and naan bread as well as a dessert. Dayl has also organised a fantastic raffle for the evening. Contact Nicole asap on nicnoelharris@aol.com
CHRISTMAS CARDS
Blood Cancer UK is now selling Christmas cards. I am waiting for a link to send to show you the stock. You will then be able to contact me to place an order.
GREETINGS CARDS
Judy Hurst is selling some greetings cards at Avoncroft Museum, sending us the profit she makes from her sale. If interested, you can buy them at the shop.
TOMBOLA ITEMS
We have used up 400 tombola prizes and will need to replenish our stock for the Fun Run next year. A lot of those unwanted presents you may have raise a great deal of money for our branch. So now that the children are on holiday and whilst doing some clearing out, you may find something which would be of use to us. We also would appreciate some raffle prizes if you have any.
BOTTLES WANTED
We always need some bottles for our raffle prizes. It doesn’t have to be alcoholic; we can raise money from anything you give us.
TINS IN PUBS OR SHOPS
If you are able to put a collection tin in your shop or pub, do let Sue know and she will let you have a tin. A great deal of money can be raised that way.
TREK TO EVEREST CAMP BASE
Karen Cartlidge is embarking on a challenging journey of over 100km to a height of 5364 metres in memory of a good friend, Pete Allen, who sadly passed earlier this year. She is doing this to raise money for Blood Cancer UK and to support her please go onto: https://www.justgiving.com/page/karen-cartlidge-1722428434857
FUN RUN MAY 11th 2025
We are already taking entries for this event. Should you wish to register you may do so now on:
RESEARCH NEWS
New blood test to help diagnose myeloma among research boost to Birmingham
Blood Cancer UK have marked Myeloma Awareness Week, which ran from the 17th of June to 24th June by announcing £1.3m of new funding to new myeloma research projects!
Over half of this money is being awarded to research at the University of Birmingham. It includes a £310k grant to a team who are developing a new blood test to help diagnose the disease.
In the UK around 5,900 people are diagnosed with myeloma each year. It’s the disease that insurance leader, now chair of trustees at Blood Cancer UK, Matthew Wilson has. In 2020 Matthew felt permanently exhausted but put it down to stress. He spent two years in a cycle of diagnosis and treatment, before seeking the expertise of another doctor where he received the life-changing blood cancer diagnosis that often presents challenges in diagnosis and treatment.
While myeloma can be treated, it currently has no cure. Now stable and living with his condition, Matthew set up the Matthew Wilson Multiple Myeloma Fund, which is funding four projects to transform outcomes for people with the disease.
A small percentage of people with myeloma do not produce sufficient amounts of a specific protein found in the blood and used to monitor their disease. This is often referred to as non-measurable myeloma. In the new £310k project, Dr Tracey Chan, Dr Jen Heaney and their team at the University of Birmingham are developing a new technique to help diagnose and monitor people with non-measurable myeloma.
The technique takes blood samples from someone with myeloma and separates proteins found in the blood based on their electrical charge. It detects specific proteins that would not be visible with standard blood tests.
The team will be testing their new technique on a large group of people with the disease and will also conduct group conversations with people with non-measurable myeloma to understand their opinions of using this type of test as an alternative.