The Rank Group Plc raises £1m for Marie Curie Cancer Care
Press release published
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The Rank Group Plc today announced that is has raised an impressive £1 million for Marie Curie Cancer Care. The partnership between the charity and Rank, which owns Mecca and Grosvenor Casinos, began in January 2010 and saw the company’s employees at head office in clubs, casinos and other offices across the UK take part in a host of different activities to raise much-needed funds. Some people quite literally went the extra mile by taking part in last year’s Great North Run. Over 90 Mecca team members joined forces to take part in the run and claim the record for being the biggest corporate team to run for the charity. Not to be outdone, Grosvenor Casino employees cycled from their most northerly to their most southerly casino, clocking up 1,000 miles as they pedalled from Aberdeen to Brighton. Other highlights include themed Blooming Great Tea Parties, Grosvenor Casinos playing ‘extreme poker’ in unusual locations and a range of physical challenges such as sky-dives, abseiling and it’s a knockout-style events. All of these were in addition to the obligatory waxing of chests and legs and heads being shaved for the charity. Lesly Clifford, Head of Communications at The Rank Group Plc said, “It’s amazing that we’ve raised such a massive amount of money for Marie Curie. There are no words to describe how important the work they do is and we’re all thrilled at the result. “I’d like to say a massive thanks to everyone across the Rank business for giving up their time and putting so much effort into raising money. Also, let’s not forget our kind-hearted customers, friends and family, who have been nothing short of fantastic when it came to getting behind everyone’s efforts.” Fabian French, Director of Fundraising at Marie Curie Cancer Care, said: “Raising £1 million is a massive achievement. We’ve been really impressed with the creativity teams and customers have shown in raising funds over the past three years and I would like to thank everyone at The Rank Group Plc for the time and effort given to reach this result. Their support will help us make a real difference to terminally ill people and their families.” -ENDS- |
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The Rank Group Plc includes brands Grosvenor Casino, Blue Square and Mecca.
Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, it provided care to more than 35,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its nine hospices last year and is the largest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS.
Funding
Around 70 per cent of the charity’s income comes from the generous support of thousands of individuals, membership organisations and businesses, with the balance of our funds coming from the NHS.
Marie Curie Nurses
The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end of life care, totally free for patients in their own homes.
Research
The charity provides core funding for three palliative care research facilities; the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit at University College London, the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool and the Marie Curie Palliative Care Centre at the Wales Cancer Trials Unit (Cardiff University). The charity also supports palliative and end of life care research through its project grant funding streams, the Marie Curie Cancer Care Research Programme (administered by Cancer Research UK) and the Dimbleby Marie Curie Cancer Care Research Fund. Both research programmes aims to tackle the funding and knowledge gap in palliative and end of life care research, which in turn will benefit patients, families and carers. The charity also funds seven fundamental scientific research groups which investigate the causes and treatments of cancer. This research was previously carried out at the Marie Curie Research Institute in Oxted, Surrey. The programmes are now located in universities around the country, and will receive funding from the charity until March 2013.
The right to die in place of choice
Research shows around 63 per cent of people would like to die at home if they had a terminal illness, with a sizeable minority opting for hospice care. However, more than 50 per cent of cancer deaths still occur in hospital, the place people say they would least like to be. Since 2004 Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die in their place of choice.
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- Fundraising