Stuart Anderson MP Helps John's Crew Champion Research into Brain Tumours
Stuart Anderson MP has called for brain tumours to be made a clinical priority, having met with Charlotte and Alison Lilley, whose father and husband, John, sadly died from a glioblastoma brain tumour in May 2023. Alison’s children, Charlotte and Daniel, have formed 'John's Crew' in honour of John. To date, they have raised an amazing £20,000 for Brain Tumour Research whose mission is to find a cure for all brain tumours. Stuart has commended their inspirational fundraising efforts and has called for a government strategy on how to accelerate research.
Every day in the UK, about 34 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour. John’s Crew aims to raise as much funding as possible in his name, while highlighting the need for more sustained investment into research on brain tumours - which kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other type of cancer. At the same time, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002. This has motivated John’s Crew and charities such as Brain Tumour Research to appeal for increased funding to deliver sustainable research.
John’s Crew aims to raise as much funding as possible in his name, while highlighting the need for more sustained investment into research on brain tumours – which kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other type of cancer. Stuart was concerned to learn that, at the same time, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002. For this reason, Stuart hopes that brain tumours will be made a clinical priority.
In 2018, the last government doubled government research funding to £40 million as part of the Dame Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Research Mission. Yet only £11.3 million has actually reached researchers. So, Stuart has written to the Health Secretary, calling for a roadmap and monitoring system that will lead to full national deployment of the funds. He has asked for it to be included as a priority in the stand-alone cancer strategy, which Ministers have said will follow the ten-year health plan that is due to be published in the Spring.
Stuart also called for an uplift in funding for brain tumour research, after the Chancellor announced a real terms uplift for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) as part of over £2 billion of R&D funding unveiled at the Budget on Wednesday, 30th October 2024. Stuart additionally urged the government to publish a full response to the report undertaken by All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours, called ‘Pathway to a Cure’. It sets priority recommendations for improving research into brain tumours - including by developing a strategic plan for resourcing and funding discovery, translational, and clinical research.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“It was an honour to meet Charlotte and Alison Lilley, whose father and husband, John, sadly died from a brain tumour last May. Alison and her children, Charlotte and Daniel, have formed 'John's Crew', with the aim of raising as much funding as possible in their father’s name while highlighting the need for more sustained investment into research on brain tumours. Their fundraising efforts are truly inspirational, having already raised an amazing raised £20,000 for Brain Tumour Research. Every day in the UK, 34 people are sadly diagnosed with a brain tumour. This topic is especially important to me, since my father died when he was just 37 years old. While he had skin cancer, it was the brain tumour that took his life. Although the last government doubled funding for research to £40 million, just over a quarter of this has been used. The full deployment of these resources could make a truly transformative difference. So, I have called on the government to set a roadmap on how this deployment can be accelerated as part of its cancer strategy following the government’s ten-year health plan, due to be published in Spring 2025. I have also urged the government to make brain tumours a clinical priority and provide an uplift for research, following the extra £2 billion announced for the life sciences at the recent budget.”
Information about John’s story can be found at https://braintumourresearch.org/blogs/in-our-hearts/john-lilley.
