The building of the Breakthrough Research Centre was the result of a partnership between Breakthrough and the Institute of Cancer Research. It was made possible by the £15 million raised by the tireless work of individuals, many with direct experience of the disease, and the support of companies and trusts.

M-J Mitchell GreenThroughout, the generosity of Peter Green and his family has been instrumental in achieving this vision and the Breakthrough Research Centre is housed in the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Building, dedicated to the memory of his late wife who died of the disease.

Fuelled by the determination of our supporters, the Breakthrough Research Centre was ready for business in only eight years. With Professor Alan Ashworth appointed as Director, the Centre was opened in 1999 by Breakthrough’s Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales.

Currently, seven teams work side by side on a coordinated research programme, unravelling the causes and mechanisms of this disease. Benefiting from links with other researchers and clinicians at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital, scientists at the Centre are at the hub of the largest cancer facility in Europe.

In addition to the Breakthrough Research Centre, Breakthrough has made some impressive progress in campaigning for better breast cancer services.

In November 2003, Breakthrough’s Campaigns & Advocacy Network was formed when the UK Breast Cancer Coalition (UKBCC) merged with Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

The UKBCC had a long history of successful campaigning and breast cancer advocacy work. It was founded in 1995 by women with personal experience of breast cancer. These women believed that the standard of care and treatment for breast cancer shouldn’t depend on where you live in the country. In the years since 1995, the UKBCC and its members – individuals and organisations committed to improving all aspects of breast cancer treatments, services and research – campaigned at a local and national level to achieve their goals. This campaigning took the form of lobbying and working in partnership with everyone from MPs and Government Ministers, to NHS Managers and GPs.

In 2003, the UKBCC won the Communiqué Patient Association of the Year Award in recognition of the success of its work. A unique element of the UKBCC was that it combined campaigning with providing members with tailored information and training events and materials to develop their campaigning and advocacy skills. Thus they also created a network of motivated, skilled and informed breast cancer advocates able to campaign on the issues they felt were most important and improve breast cancer services where they live.

Source: Breakthrough Breast CancerSimilar Posts:

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