CEO'S Christmas Blog 2024

In our modern world, Christmas means many different things to different people. For some it is an opportunity to have time off work and to reconnect with family. For others it’s a time of parties, from the office and beyond. For parents with young children, it can be a time of frantic shopping, assembling large toys, hoping no-one buys your children a drum-kit, positioning the Elf anywhere but on the shelf and deciding what to leave out for Santa.

Most people will also recognise that Christmas is a key celebration for Christians around the world who remember the birth of Christ, hope and a new beginning. Casting your memory back to school nativity plays and the Bible you’ll remember that the angels appeared proclaiming the Good News.

At a recent event I was explaining to the audience that we are seeing real progress in our research and that around the world scientists are making strides forward. In some of the common cancer types, patients have more treatment options and much improved survival rates – although cancer prevalence remains stubbornly high.

Following on from the event, I was thanked by a member of the audience who told me about her son. He had sadly passed away because of his cancer at a relatively young age and hence, for her, the progress being made was poignant but also important. She was grateful for the work done by North West Cancer Research to create hope for the future, hope for cancer patients and hope for the people of our region.

Being thanked was deeply humbling. It reminded me of the importance of what we do but also ofthe lives which are still being lost to cancer and the part that we play in helping change this for future generations..

Working for a cancer research charity it’s really important to tell people that there is good news out there. Advances are being made and there is a reason for hope. Yes, there are still far too many lives being lost to cancer and far too many families who will have a space at the Christmas dinner table – but there is reason to believe that we can overcome many of the challenges that we face. For our children and for our grandchildren cancer is still a real threat but treatments and outcomes are improving with every day.

On behalf of North West Cancer Research I would like to wish you a happy Christmas and a healthy new year. There is good news and a reason for hope.

- Alastair Richards, North West Cancer Research CEO