Kent Regional News and Media has launched an appeal to raise awareness and support for the Kent Cancer Trust. Here Julia Rogers tells you why a Kent charity is needed, what it aims to achieve and how you can get involved and make a difference to conquering cancer in Kent ...

YOUR mum might have fought it. Your grandfather might have died from it. You could get it.

We've all heard the statistics – one in three of us will get cancer at some point in our lives.

Each year, a staggering quarter of a million people in the UK are diagnosed with one of more than 200 types of cancer.

It is one of the oldest and most deadly diseases to affect us and it's on the increase. But we are fighting it.

As you read this, scientists across the world are pooling their research to find better treatments and cures to reduce these statistics.

Drugs companies are churning out new medicines and at the frontline, doctors and nurses in hospitals and hospices are working flat-out to alleviate suffering.

And now the people of Kent can play their part too.

Until four years ago, Kent was one of only a few counties in the country that did not have a dedicated cancer research charity.

The Kent Cancer Trust was set up in 2004 and followed a conversation between Canterbury-based Dr Mary Buchanan, former president of Europa Donna – the European breast cancer coalition – and Bill Gullick, professor of cancer biology at the University of Kent.

They shared a vision of a Kent-based cancer charity that raised money in Kent to be spent in Kent for the benefit of Kent people.

Prof Gullick said: "We started talking about the lack of an organisation for Kent to raise awareness of cancer, to champion the research already being done and to raise more funds for future research."

Dr Buchanan said: "Our aim is to enhance cancer research in Kent, so we can look to advances in treatment for this disease which touches every family in the county in some way."

Two years later, with a board of trustees made up of experts in their field from across the county, the Kent Cancer Trust gained charity status.

With Countess Mountbatten as its patron, the charity's aim was to develop Kent into a centre of excellence for research, to build a dedicated cancer research unit, and to attract world-class clinicians to work in our county for the benefit of the people of Kent.

Prof Gullick, one of the UK's leading cancer researchers whose work helped towards the development of breast cancer wonder drug Herceptin, explained: "Kent is a wonderful place to work but because we don't have a dedicated research centre like London, Oxford, or Leeds, for example, we have trouble attracting top-class clinicians and scientists.

"We need to attract clinicians who can spend their time working in our hospitals and doing research."

The first step in bridging this gap is to raise the profile of the charity and enough money to enable more quality research to be done. It has already raised more than £76,000 and is funding several projects, but needs £150,000 for a three-year fellowship.

Scientists will then be invited to bid for the money, and a panel of independent experts will carefully select a research project.

Prof Gullick said: "I have a vision of one day looking out of the window of my Canterbury lab to see a gleaming, bright cancer research building, with 100 scientists inside busily working on the latest cure.

"It would be brilliant if this could be partly funded by the Kent Cancer Trust.

"The South Wales charity raises about £3m to £4m a year. I simply can't believe the people of Kent will be unwilling to support us. I don't believe they are any less generous."

Trustee and head of research at the Oncology Centre at Maidstone Hospital, Dr Mark Hill, is passionate about the work of the charity.

He said: "Research is an important benchmark in the quality of practice.

"We are starting small, but we hope we can raise millions for infrastructure to support more research and clinical trials."

Spearheading the fundraising is dad-of-three Stuart Minty. He said: "Like most people I have been touched by cancer as my father, mother and sister have all been diagnosed.

"I believe this charity offers a unique opportunity for the people of Kent to benefit from research into cancer and to provide training for the cancer specialists that help us.

"I urge everyone in Kent to support this fantastic cause and to join me in raising the charity's profile and support our fundraising."

For more details about the Kent Cancer Trust visit http://www.kentcancertrust.org.uk/