For immediate release
Hope for Tomorrow Press Release
Help rebuild East Kent's Mobile Cancer Care Unit ‘Caron'
Cancer charity, Hope for Tomorrow, have launched an appeal to raise £200,000 for an upgrade to ‘Caron' Kent's own Mobile Cancer Care Unit (MCCU). Caron has been bringing cancer care closer to patients around East Kent for over 5 ½ years. After administering over 4500 treatments she needs a new body.
Hope for Tomorrow, own and maintain the unit and work in partnership with East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust who operate it and provide the nursing staff and driver.
Based at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, ‘Caron', has been caring for the patients of East Kent visiting locations closer to home on a weekly basis such as Herne Bay, Dover and Cheriton.
Hope for Tomorrow has a fleet of 10 MCCUs across the country and ‘Caron' was launched in October 2013 and is named after Caron Keating, the daughter of charity Patron Gloria Hunniford OBE:
"Like many people my daughter hated having chemotherapy, but Hope for Tomorrow identified a way to make the experience a lot easier, and I know that Caron would have appreciated that. With over 1200 treatments being administered on board the unit in 2018 alone, and having been in service now for over 5 years, the MCCU is now in need of an upgrade and refurbishment, which I hope that many people will be inspired to support through this appeal"
Cancer patients are treated on board by trained NHS cancer nurses in a comfortable and friendly environment, where a cup of tea is always on offer. With four treatment chairs on board, the MCCU is capable of seeing up to 20 patients a day.
To donate go to: https://hopefortomorrow.org.uk/caring-for-caron-appeal-launch/
or
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/caringforcaron
or call 01666 505055; or send a cheque or postal order (payable to Hope for Tomorrow) to: Hope for Tomorrow, Kingscote, Priory Park, London Road, Tetbury, Glos, GL8 8HZ.
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Hope for Tomorrow
Hope for Tomorrow is a dedicated charity, bringing cancer care closer to patients' homes via our Mobile Cancer Care Units (MCCUs).
Fighting cancer is one of the hardest things any one will ever have to do, even without the additional stress of spending hours travelling long distances to hospitals to receive treatment. This is why Hope for Tomorrow brings cancer care closer to patient's homes, to ease the strains of travel and to give them more time with their loved ones.
We work in a unique partnership with the NHS helping to ease capacity challenges at hospital trusts. We now have 10 MCCUs operational in Gloucestershire, Somerset, South Wiltshire, East Kent, Lincolnshire, Cornwall, West Suffolk, East Essex, London/ Surrey and West Yorkshire, with two reserve MCCUs in place to ensure continuity of service during the maintenance schedule. We also provide a Nurses Support Vehicle with each MCCU, which allows the nursing team to travel to and from the daily treatment locations.
The charity won a Queen's Award for Enterprise - Innovation, in 2016. The Award is the UK's highest accolade for business success, and was made in recognition of our achievements since the Founder, Christine Mills MBE, set up Hope for Tomorrow in 2003.
Our East Kent Mobile Cancer Care Unit ‘Caron' visits Herne Bay, Dover and Cheriton on a weekly basis.
For further information on Hope for Tomorrow, please contact:
01666 505055
For further enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Claire Cosgrove, Head of Fundraising and Communications