Supporting the environment & fighting blood cancer

Leukaemia & Myeloma Research UK was founded in 2015. Our mission is to prevent people dying from blood cancer through prevention, research and more effective treatment.  Blood cancer is the 3rd biggest cancer killer, claiming more lives than breast or prostate cancer each year. It is the most common type of cancer in children and young people – in fact every day in the UK 27 people are diagnosed with Leukaemia and sadly 12 people die.

Our goal is to become the leading UK blood-cancer charity specialising in stem-cell therapy by: -

 1) Raising awareness of stem-cell therapies

 2) Offering support and information to blood cancer patients

3)Protecting those who are vulnerable to cancer through genetic predisposition by offering a free, or heavily subsidised, stem-cell storage service for economically disadvantaged families. Our project will collect and store umbilical cord blood stem cells at the time of birth, so that the baby (or another member of their family) can use them to treat future diseases including Blood cancers. 

 4) We also actively support stem-cell research into blood cancers. 

LMRUK are seeking a donation towards the amount of £9,000 to help pay for 10 outdoor clothing recycling banks. Our recycling programme secures valuable funds for the charities work fighting blood cancer and raising awareness of our work. It also promotes re-use and recycling, encourages sustainable practices and decreases landfill - thus protectign the environemnt and promoting a more sustainable way of living. 

We currently run the following:

•          Donated clothes and items in the Merseyside are (Liverpool, Wirral, Chester, Warrington and Wigan). This scheme collects clothing, handbags and accessories, toys, shoes, jewellery, and cosmetics which are sold through our online shop.

•          Clothes recycling banks – we have a number of clothes recycling banks located in Merseyside 

•          School Textile Recycling scheme – which operates in Merseyside and Manchester

•          We have a nationwide scheme for stock donations from boutiques, retailers and manufacturers.

•          We have a national designer clothes donation scheme which is run though our online shop

•          We have a donate a car scheme which is a nationwide service.

We are particularly keen to secure funding to pay for our free cord blood stem-cell storage project and our research work, examining the benefits on cord blood stem cells in treating blood cancer patients. 

Case Study 1 – A mother’s worst nightmare: I am 24 years old and have 3 children aged 6, 3, and 6 months old. Whilst pregnant with my third child, I was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer in my neck. When I found out that I had cancer I was filled with guilt for my children – I was so worried that this could be hereditary and passed onto them. After doing some research into my family, I found out that my auntie had been diagnosed with cancer and that my grandfather had died from it. I had to do something to protect my children. Cord blood stem cell storage and transplants are very costly so many cannot afford to use this potentially lifesaving service. This would certainly have been the case for us, however Leukaemia & Myeloma Research UK’s Model Cell Biobank offers a fully-funded service to qualifying families. If it wasn’t for this service we would never have been able to afford to store our baby’s cord blood stem cells. The process was really straightforward, we were sent a kit which contained all the information that we needed for the cord blood storage and collection. When I went into labour, a phlebotomist came to the hospital and waited until the baby was delivered. Then they took a sample of cord blood to collect the stem cells, which caused no harm or pain to our baby or myself, and packaged it safely and securely. My reason for storing my son’s cord blood stem cells is not for my use but for my children, all of whom should be a strong match should any of them ever need it. Ever since my diagnosis I have felt an enormous sense of guilt about the chance of any of my children getting cancer – it is a mother’s worst nightmare. I am incredibly grateful to have found out about this potentially lifesaving service, and even if we don’t use the stored cord blood stem cells, it is reassuring to know that they will not go to waste.