Can you rise to the £1,000 challenge?

Published 18 Feb 2010 13:43

The Helensburgh Advertiser is this week calling on our readers to join us in a major fund-raising campaign for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

We have teamed up with the charity in Scotland to raise funds that will be used to pay for vital research into the disease that claims the lives of 1,000 women in the country every year. Breakthrough Breast Cancer is calling on our readers to take on the charity's £1,000 challenge.

The task is to get as many people as possible in Helensburgh and Lomond to raise the minimum of £1,000 and, if they succeed, their names will go on Scotland's first Breakthrough Breast Cancer supporters' wall.

The wall is situated at the first and only dedicated breast cancer research unit in Scotland - at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

In addition, people who succeed in achieving the £1,000 challenge will be invited to Edinburgh to see the research scientists at work.

The person at the forefront of the Advertiser's campaign is Helensburgh resident Audrey Birt, Director of Breakthrough Breast Cancer in Scotland.

Audrey said: "Breakthrough Breast Cancer is funding Scotland's first and only dedicated breast cancer research unit and we are already seeing ground-breaking results from this work. However, we rely entirely on the public to fund this and it costs us nearly £1m a year to do this.

"There has already been real progress in our work to save lives of those diagnosed with the disease in Scotland and across the UK.

"As a Helensburgh resident myself, I know that the people here will always come together to support a good cause.

"With the fantastic support of the Helensburgh Advertiser and its readers I am convinced together we can raise at least the £1,000 needed to get the towns' name on the wall."

And Audrey wants the fund raising to have its accent on FUN!

She said: "There are many ways you can raise money to support the challenge. You could hold a pink party and ask friends to make a donation, hold a pink cake sale at your school or take on a physical challenge for Breakthrough such as a sponsored walk or run.

"Businesses can help too by holding a pink dress-down day or other events in the workplace. We can help by providing balloons, stickers and other great things to make your fundraising work even better.

"Of course, we also are more than happy to accept donations at our office in Scotland. I'd love Helensburgh to be the first town on the map in Scotland who have taken on our £1,000 challenge. With your support we can breakthrough breast cancer."

Advertiser editor David Carnduff said: "People in Helensburgh and Lomond are very generous when it comes to good causes - and are always ready to rise to a challenge. The ground-breaking work being done at Breakthrough's research centre in Edinburgh is vital if the devastating effect that breast cancer has on women and their families across Scotland every year is to be reduced.

"So I appeal to our readers, please take up the challenge and help Breakthrough Breast Cancer - together we can get Helensburgh featuring prominently and proudly on the supporters' wall."

To make a donation or to find out more about how you can help, call 0131 226 0761 or visit www.breakthrough.org.uk

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