Sir Bobby Robson charity raises £1.2m in under a year

Feb 20 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

SIR Bobby Robson’s amazing charity drive is paying for two medical experts at the cancer centre bearing his name.

In less than a year, the remarkable knight has raised £1.2m.

And on the day the centre is opened, bosses revealed that the money which has poured in will fund two medical staff for the next three years.

Sir Bobby, who is fighting cancer for the fifth time, will today officially open the new Cancer Trials Research Centre at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital alongside England boss Fabio Capello.

Mr Capello will be making a donation of £75,000 to the Foundation on behalf of the Football Association.

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation will also pay for a training research nurse with a special interest in skin cancer and a senior training fellowship doctor.

The nurse’s position will cost around £120,000 over three years and the fellowship will cost in the region of £180,000 over the same period.

Sir Bobby said: “I’m very grateful to the FA for their extremely generous support and to Fabio for delivering the donation in person. I know from experience that he has a very demanding job and for him to take the time to visit us personally speaks volumes about his character.

“This is a particularly proud day for everyone involved in The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. And by that I don’t just mean myself, my wife Lady Elsie and the charity committee and centre staff.

“Every single person who has made a donation to the Foundation, sponsored a friend or workmate or organised a fundraising event should be very proud.

“This new centre is our first major achievement together and it will make a huge difference. And because of the wonderful ongoing efforts being made on behalf of my charity I’m pleased to announce that we’ve also been able to use £300,000 to fund two very important research posts here too – a doctor and a nurse. Both are training roles and a sound investment in the future of cancer research.

“But we don’t want to rest on our laurels today. This is a wonderful new facility, but the patients who come through its doors are at the very frontline in the fight against cancer.

“The best way we can continue to help them is to keep pulling together as a team.”