Welsh Cancer Charity Tenovus Announces 'Himalaya Trek'

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AmeriCymru: Croeso i AmeriCymru Bethan and thanks for agreeing to be interviewed about the vital work that you do. Care to introduce Tenovus for the benefit of our readers? When was it founded? What does it do?

 

Bethan: In 1943, Tenovus was founded by ten businessmen. Initially, the charity funded a wide range of projects in the local area. These ranged from building the Sunshine House for Blind Babies just outside Cardiff, to donating a washing machine to a widow with seven children who had lost an arm.

In the 1960s, Tenovus embarked on a project which was to influence our work for the next 40 years. We built the Tenovus Institute for Cancer Research in Cardiff which carried out vital research into the causes of cancer. Since then, we have concentrated our efforts on cancer and are now recognised for our pioneering work.

Today we are Wales’ leading cancer charity and work in partnership to deliver innovative research-led cancer prevention, treatment and support in the community......Himalaya Trek More Here

Millennium Stadium Boost For Welsh Cancer Charity

Tens of thousands of rugby fans are being asked to help a Welsh charity set up by the singer and broadcaster Shan Cothi to raise money for the battle against pancreatic cancer. A bucket collection will be held around the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, 20th of March when Wales take on Italy in their final game of the RBS 6 Nations tournament. Sixty volunteers will be stationed on walkways around the stadium asking for contributions to the charity called Amser Justin Time. The collection has been arranged with the support of the Welsh Rugby Union to achieve the dual aims of raising the charity’s profile and cash for the cause. Shan Cothi launched the Amser Justin Time charity in honour of her husband Justin Smith whose life was cut short by pancreatic cancer at the age of 42. He was well known in Wales as a successful TV director, editor and musician with the Tigertailz glam rock band (aka Pepsi Tate). The charity in his name raises money for pancreatic cancer care in Wales and helps fund a specialist nurse who supports patients suffering from pancreatic cancer. Shan recently attended a Wales squad training session along with the actor Steffan Rhodri who is an active supporter of the charity. Steffan has appeared in an impressive list of films and television roles and most recently is perhaps best known for playing Dave Coaches in hit TV series Gavin and Stacey. At the Millennium Stadium training session they joined squad members and Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland who pulled on Amser Justin Time T shirts to be pictured supporting the charity’s work. Shan Cothi said: ”I am very grateful to the WRU and to Warren and his players for the support they have given us. It was great to meet up with them at the training session and they were all so determined to show their support for Amser Justin Time. The bucket collection is a great opportunity for us both to raise money and the profile of the work we do here in Wales to fight pancreatic cancer. We work hard to make Amser Justin Time a success and this support from the national sport of Wales will certainly help us a great deal.” WRU Chairman, David Pickering, said: ”Amser Justin Time is an extremely worthwhile cause and we are delighted to be able to help. I know how hard Shan works for the charity and I am sure the Welsh and Italian fans who attend the game will give generously. The WRU knows the devastating impact pancreatic cancer can have because our Head of Legal Affairs, Mike Jefferies, suffered from the disease and died last year." Amser Justin Time holds regular events throughout Wales to collect funds for the charity and details of its events and work are featured on its dedicated website. The WRU delivers its core support to the Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust which raises money to help seriously injured former players in Wales. For more information on the charity, please visit www.amserjustintime.org For donations, please visit www.justgiving.com/amser

'Amser Justin Time' countdown to Change the Numbers Awareness Week for Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer charities across the UK will be launching their first Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Week, taking place from the 16th to 22nd November 2009, with one common campaign to ‘Change the Numbers’. Backing the campaign will be Wales’ one and only pancreatic cancer charity Amser Justin Time, founded by Welsh opera star and TV personality Shan Cothi in memory of her husband, Tigertailz’ glam-rock star, Justin Smith (aka Pepsi Tate). One of Amser Justin Time’s dedicated supporters, and a close friend of Shan Cothi, is actor Steffan Rhodri, aka Dave Coaches from hit TV series Gavin & Stacey. Having recently landed the role of Reg Cattermole in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Steffan Rhodri remains committed to the charity “I’m very grateful for such opportunities as Con Passionate, Gavin and Stacey and now Harry Potter, but my passion is my work with amserjustintime.org. Sadly I’m only too familiar with the tragic affect that this killer disease has had on my close friends and my family, and I urge everyone to support our campaign in order to help others just in time.” The Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Week and its ‘Change the Numbers’ campaign have been designed to increase knowledge and understanding about pancreatic cancer, a ruthless and silent killer (its symptoms are often hard to detect). Despite being the 5th largest cause of cancer deaths in the UK few have heard about it. This silent nature has meant that research into diagnosis, treatment and service provision and patient support has gone under-funded for many years. Only around 1% of cancer funding goes towards pancreatic cancer. As a result, there has been very little improvement in the overall survival rate for the last 40 years with 5 year survival just a dismal 3%. UK pancreatic cancer charities believe that the time has come for these numbers to change. They are now urging people to spread the word about the importance of further research into pancreatic cancer as part of the November awareness week. During Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Week, supporters will be doing their bit regionally by holding events to both raise money and increase awareness. It is hoped that this will help to promote the vital messages surrounding pancreatic cancer and give a bigger voice to the campaign against this silent killer. In conjunction with the awareness week, The Silent Cancer, a feature documentary investigating pancreatic cancer in the UK, will be shown on the Community Channel: Sky 539, Virgin TV 233, Freeview 87 on the 16th, 18th, 20th and 22nd November at 21:00 and 3.00am. The Silent Cancer is Directed by Alastair Clayton, Written and Produced by Stuart Laws. A trailer of the documentary is available to watch at www.pancreaticcancerawareness.org Amser Justin Time continue to work tirelessly to raise awareness of this cruel disease. Alongside the charity’s founder and close friend Shan Cothi, Steffan Rhodri took part in Amser Justin Time’s first fundraising challenge - an epic horse-ride from North to South Wales in August and September 2008. Since then the charity has gone from strength to strength raising over £60,000 in its first year of operation. In July this year, the charity made the ground-breaking announcement in a special launch with Only Men Aloud at the University Hospital of Wales, that they had raised sufficient funds to employ a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse for one day a week for two years. This month has already seen charity supporter, presenter and actress, Sara Hunter raise money for Amser Justin Time by completing the New York marathon on 1st November. Sara completed the race in 4 hours 4 minutes and raised over £1700 and said: “It was an unforgettable experience and thinking of Justin and Shan kept me going the whole way. I’m going to continue to run half marathons in the New Year with the aim of reaching my target of £3000 for amserjustintime.org”. Other supporters continue to fundraise through various sponsored walks and horse rides. Amser Justin Time have also held various other fundraising events including two acclaimed ‘Cyngerdd Cothi’ concerts at Pontrhydfendigaid including performances from Shan Cothi, Only Men Aloud, Caryl Parry Jones and John Owen Jones. Given Shân’s status as a singer, actress and TV personality the charity’s fundraising events have had the support of some of Wales’ biggest celebrities including Bryn Terfel, who joined Shân to record the downloadable track ‘I Believe’. For more information on the charity, please visit www.amserjustintime.org For donations, please visit www.justgiving.com/amser

Welsh Pancreatic Cancer Charity calls for match-funding from WAG

Wales’ pancreatic cancer charity, Amser Justin Time, today (Wednesday 15th July) made a ground-breaking announcement at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, having raised sufficient money in their first year of operation to fund a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse for one day a week. The charity, which is headed by Welsh opera, TV and radio star Shân Cothi, in memory of her husband, Tigertailz’ glam-rock star, Justin Smith, marked the announcement with a special performance from Only Men Aloud. The launch had a fantastic response as crowds of patients, medical staff and hospital visitors filled the Main Concourse of the University Hospital of Wales at lunchtime today to hear Shân Cothi make the announcement, followed by a heartrending rendition of ‘Angels’ from the nation’s favourite contemporary male choir Only Men Aloud. For those patients unable to attend, the launch was also broadcast live on Hospital Radio. The performance marked the ground-breaking announcement that in the 12 months since the charity was launched, Amser Justin Time has raised over £60,000 and will now use part of these funds to fund a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse for one day a week for two years. Following the launch Shân and Only Men Aloud visited some of the hospital’s wards including the C2 ward where Shân’s late-husband Justin had himself been a patient. The choir gave an impromptu performance on the ward, which sparked one patient to comment “I’m definitely going to get better now”. Specialist Pancreatic Nurse Nicki Jardine will be funded by the charity and will divide her time between the University Hospital of Wales and the Velindre Cancer Centre in Whitchurch, Cardiff. Nicki said “This is a remarkable achievement for the charity. I feel privileged to be the first nurse to be funded by Amser Justin Time, such an innovative charity that is so devoted to the cause. On a day to day basis I witness first-hand patients and their families dealing with pancreatic cancer and can honestly say that this charity is making a real difference, so a big thank you to Shân and the Amser Justin Time team”. The charity was founded by Welsh opera star and TV personality, Shân Cothi in memory of her husband, the talented TV director and editor and glam-rock star, Justin Smith (aka Tigertailz’ Pepsi Tate), who sadly lost his battle against pancreatic cancer in 2007. Shân said “When we launched Amser Justin Time last year with an epic horse-ride from North to South Wales, we met so many people along the way who gave us such a heartwarming welcome and so many kind donations, I bet they’re wondering “what happened to the money I donated to Amser Justin Time?” – Well, here’s the result...a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse!”. Shân expressed the importance of employing a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse “I’m so proud to be able to tell all the people that supported us that their money will allow us to provide essential care for patients and their families. It’s vital they have someone they can talk to who is specially trained, supportive and can ease the difficulty of dealing with this particularly aggressive from of cancer. We hope that with more donations we will be able to fund more nurses around Wales”. Given Shân’s celebrity status as a singer, actress and TV personality the charity’s fundraising events have had the support of some of Wales’ biggest celebrities including Bryn Terfel, who joined Shân to record the downloadable track ‘I Believe’. Shân continued to explain “It’s incredible that we’ve managed to raise this amount of money without having a full-time team in place or even an office. This is the first time for the charity to spend a single penny of the money raised, which is why it’s so important for us to mark this occasion”. Celebrating the announcement at the University Hospital of Wales were Only Men Aloud, stepping straight off the plane from performing in America, who gave an impromptu and heartrending rendition of ‘Angels’. Only Men Aloud's Music Director and Founder, Tim Rhys-Evans, said “We are immensely proud to be supporting Amser Justin Time as one of the choir’s chosen charities. Having worked and performed with Shân for many years it’s amazing to see how one special Welsh lady can inspire a whole nation and achieve such incredible results”. Mr Malcolm Puntis, a former Consultant Surgeon & Senior Lecturer for the Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust, and a Specialist in Pancreatic Surgery who treated Justin Smith, said “Justin was such an inspiration. It’s outstanding to see all the fund-raising being put to tangible use providing extra care for pancreatic cancer patients and their relatives. It is a rare and fortunate thing for a charity to have so little overheads to be able to action front-line funding such as this so soon. It would be greater still if the Welsh Assembly Government were to match the funding raised by Amser Justin Time”. Mr Puntis, who has lent his support and expertise freely to Amser Justin Time acting as Mentor for the charity, continued “We are also continuing to develop a comprehensive website to be used as an information resource about pancreatic cancer and to raise public awareness about this cruel disease. We hope the website will become a universal resource for all those affected by pancreatic cancer”. Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the UK with approximately 20 new patients diagnosed each day. The rate of pancreatic cancer is slightly higher in Wales at 14.2 per 100,000 people compared with 12.7 per 100,000 people for the UK as a whole. Nurse Director of Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust Sue Gregory said “We are grateful to Amser Justin Time for their involvement. A specialist nurse will improve the care we provide to pancreatic cancer patients, as well as providing much needed support for their relatives”. For more information on the charity, please visit www.amserjustintime.org For donations, please visit www.justgiving.com/amser