Latest Newsletter

Christmas Cards

Welcome back to the SCaRF Newsletter which now seems to have become an annual publication. As I write this it is only August and today the sun is shining in between showers, but my office is full of Christmas cards so it must be time for all you lovely SCaRF supporters to purchase your Christmas cards and give me a bit more space in the office. This year you have a choice of two cards. Click here to view/order.

AGM

Details of the AGM are given overleaf. It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible at the meeting. Come and hear how SCaRF has fared in these difficult financial times. The Trustees will present the Annual Report and Accounts at the meeting, but if you are unable to attend and would like a copy of the Annual Report and Accounts please let me know and I will send you a copy after the AGM. We try to get the business part of the meeting over quickly and we then have an up-date on current SCaRF funded research projects from the researchers themselves. The enthusiasm and commitment shown by the researchers is infectious and reinvigorates and recharges SCaRF supporters for another year of fund-raising. After that we can socialise over light refreshments and then listen to an interesting talk on a subject far removed from skin cancer. This year we have a speaker to talk on the history and restoration of Arno’s Vale Cemetery in Bristol which has been rescued from a state of dereliction by a very hard working and enthusiastic band of volunteers who secured lottery funding to undertake the project.

Skin Cancer UK - A United national Strategy

In March founding Trustee Tony Hancock and I attended the above named conference organised by the founder of another recently formed skin cancer charity – the Karen Clifford Skin Cancer Charity or Skcin. Richard Clifford’s wife Karen, died from malignant melanoma and Richard set up the charity with the main objective of increasing awareness of the problem of skin cancer. With his professional background in the field of sport, media and PR he seems well equipped for the job. He was, however concerned by the apparent lack of a coordinated approach to the problem of skin cancer within the UK and set up this conference with financial backing of a commercial company, and invited people with a specific interest in skin cancer from the medical profession, health information, charities, environmental health, sports and commercial organisations. There followed one and a half days of well informed and passionate discussion and debate and at the end of the conference all parties knew a little bit more about each other, but there was no real consensus of a single vision of the way forward to reduce the incidence of skin cancer in the future. The failure to reach a consensus was in no way caused by a lack of good will. There are real difficulties for charities such as SCaRF becoming involved with campaigns that become “political”, but we are all agreed that skin cancer is an increasing rather than decreasing problem and SCaRF is one of a very few organisations focussed on funding research into the causes, prevention and treatment of the condition. SCaRF will maintain lines of communication with all new contacts made at this conference and particularly wish Richard and his charity well in their new and innovative ways of pushing forward the sun safety message, particularly on the internet and on the sports field.

The Trustees would like to thank all our very loyal and hard working supporters, especially those new ones who have discovered SCaRF via the internet and have gone on to raise money for our research fund. Funds have come in to the SCaRF Office from all points of the compass in the past year. We need to continue our efforts to encourage younger and more energetic supporters who have been so successful in recent times in fund-raising, often by sponsored events in memory of a friend or relative – we thank you all.
Caroline

You are cordially invited to come to our AGM and find out how the charity has done in this past year

AGM

Wednesday 14 October

7.00pm for 7.30pm

Post Graduate Centre Frenchay Hospital

The short business meeting and up-date of current SCaRF funded research projects will be followed by light refreshments and a talk by Mr D Napier on the history of the once endangered but now nearly renovated Arno’s Vale Cemetery in Bristol.

Raffle (of course!)

A warm welcome to all

_______________________________________________________________________________-

Frenchay 10K Charity Run

18 April 2010

This annual event will take place on 18 April next year. This will be the 30^th year of the race. For 2010 SCaRF is honoured to be one of the two chosen charities nominated to benefit from the event. I am still waiting for further details of the event, but if there is anyone out there who would like to enter the event please get in touch and I will ensure that full details of how to enter are sent to you when available. For those entering the race the easiest way of collecting sponsor money is to set up a donation page on the web site www.justgiving.com but I can also provide sponsor forms so that you can also collect money the “old fashioned” way.

We have SCaRF T-shirts available for those athletic people who enter so that we can easily spot our SCaRF runners and cheer them on their way. On the day of the race we will need to supply marshals so get in touch if you would like to volunteer to be a marshal. Details of the event will also be available on the Frenchay 10k web site www.frenchay10k.co.uk

STOP PRESS… STOP PRESS…STOP PRESS… STOP PRESS…STOP PRESS…

SCaRF supporter Alan Courtney and some of his friends have recorded a CD of contemporary folk music and are selling copies for a minimum donation of £5 to SCaRF. All funds raised from the sale of CDs will go directly to SCaRF. If you would like a copy please send a cheque (payable to SCaRF) for a minimum donation of £5 to me at the SCaRF office. Click here for extra detail.