Together We Can Make a Difference:
Supporting The Brain Tumour Charity
As members of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, we have a long-standing tradition of supporting charitable causes and making a positive impact in our communities. Today, we have a unique opportunity to rally together for an important cause: raising funds for The Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours affect thousands of individuals and families across the UK, often with devastating consequences. The Brain Tumour Charity is dedicated to funding research, providing support to those affected, and raising awareness about this critical issue. By coming together as a fraternity, we can amplify our efforts and contribute to a cause that truly matters.
Here are some ways we can get involved:
We Can Organise Events: Whether it’s a charity walk, bake sale, or a quiz night, let’s leverage our collective creativity to organise events that will engage our members and the wider community. Every pound raised brings us closer to funding vital research and support services.
Spread Awareness: We can use our networks to share information about brain tumours and the work of The Brain Tumour Charity. Social media, newsletters, and community gatherings are excellent platforms to educate others and inspire them to contribute.
Challenge Yourself: Personal challenges, such as sponsored runs or cycling events, can motivate us to push our limits while raising funds. Let’s encourage each other to take part and share our experiences to inspire more donations.
Corporate Sponsorships: If any of our members work for companies that support charitable giving, let’s explore opportunities for corporate sponsorships or matching donations. This can significantly boost our fundraising efforts.
By Volunteering: In addition to fundraising, we can offer our time and skills to The Brain Tumour Charity. Volunteering for events or campaigns can create a direct impact and strengthen our commitment to this cause.
As we embark on this journey, let’s remember that every contribution, no matter how small, counts. By uniting our efforts, we can provide hope and support to those affected by brain tumours and their families. Together, we can make a real difference.
Let’s rise to the occasion and show our commitment to this vital cause. Join hands with your fellow Buffs and let’s make our fundraising efforts for The Brain Tumour Charity a resounding success!
Statment made by Mr J. Conibear at Grand Lodge in March
Firstly, I’d like to say thank you to Chris and thank you to all of you for kindly inviting me here this morning to share with you my thoughts and feelings on the importance of raising money for research into Brain Tumours. Chris asked me a few weeks ago if I would kindly come and join you to talk about tumours of the brain, how we treat them and where we are currently in this country when it comes to our state of research and the state of patient care.
To give you a little bit of background about myself; my name is John Conibear, my friends call me Doctor John, I’m based in Bart’s Hospital in London, St Bartholomew’s which is an old organisation, we celebrated our 900th anniversary last year so we’ve been around for the Black Death, the Covid Pandemic, the Great Fire of London so we’ve been through a lot. So, in Bart’s I’m what is called a clinical oncologist. I care for patients with cancers, I specialise in the use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to treat those cancers.
One of the cancers that I have a particular interest in is Brain Tumours. So, I specialise in using technology to try and treat and eradicate cancers that have travelled to the brain or began in the brain. In terms of my day to day job there are days like this where I have to sit with a family and this week it was with a lovely woman called Alex, whose husband happened to be called John, he is only 41 years old and has a five-year-old daughter and I had to break the news to Alex that John’s cancer in the brain had got worse and there was nothing more I could do to help him. He only has a few more weeks left to live and that time should be spent with Alex, his wife, and his daughter.
Clearly, there is so much more we hope to be able to do. If you look at survival for brain cancers, only five percent of patients with brain tumours live for five years. If you look at where we stand in the world, when it. to brain tumours and outcomes, out of the 33 countries that we assess we sit at Number 25 so towards the bottom of that list of health care providers. If we look at the role that research plays in brain tumours and charitable donations, in the UK we rely 33% of research funding comes from charity, go to the United States it’s 8% and so we really do rely on the generosity and kindness of people like yourselves to help fund the research that can make a difference to patients like John, because it’s through research and through the funding of that research that we hope to understand how brain tumours develop and what potential weaknesses those tumours have that we can exploit when it comes to treating them. That can mean using new surgical techniques, new forms of chemotherapy, new forms of radiotherapy. It’s these new discoveries that can change the landscape of brain tumour care and it is with your help and support that we can achieve that.
I have to say that when it comes to brain tumours I’ve worked in cancer now for over twenty years and I’ve seen some dramatic discoveries in other types of cancer that we care for but there is still a huge unmet need when it comes to brain tumour treatments so, hopefully, with charitable donations we will make that discovery that changes the outcome for patients so that people like Alex and John don’t have to go through what they are going through now.
I would just like to say thank you for listening to me.