Last Thursday, 1st November, the Somerset District Miners' Welfare Trust presented a cheque for £3,000 to the Bath Cancer Support Unit. The money will go to the Royal United Hospital's Scanner Appeal, which needs to raise £1.2 million to pay for a new PET-CT Scanner which will transform the treatment of cancer at the hospital.
The new scanner will allow oncologists to plan more specific and accurate planning of radiotherapy treatment and can also show better how cancer may or may not be spreading. At present, the nearest PET-CT Scanner is located in Cheltenham.
The Bath Cancer Unit Support Group (BCUSG) was set up in 1985 and along with its supporters, has raised over £3.5 million, which has contributed to a wide range of services and refurbishment of the facilities.
The cheque was presented to John Carter, Chairman of BCUSG, and Dr Ed Gilby, who was the Senior Oncology Consultant at the RUH and who still remains very involved at the hospital. Chairman of the Somerset District Miners' Welfare Trust, Francis Hillier, commented: "When our Trust took the decision to make today's donation to this very worthy cause, we were conscious of the benefits, not only to the mining community, but the community at large. We hope with today's press presence it will persuade others in our locality to consider supporting the Scanner Appeal."
The Miners' Welfare Trust has previously donated two plasma screens to the Outpatients Department of Oncology, which double as a teaching aid.