Some fantastic news in today's Bury Free Press:
The Bury Free Press Beat It! appeal sailed through its £55,000 target this week – thanks to our generous readers.
On Tuesday, the St Edmund’s Wheel fund-raising group’s three wise men, trustees Ian Turner, Brian Hurrell and Steve Laycock, presented £10,000 to take us beyond the £55,000 minimum we hoped to raise for a prostate cancer probe for West Suffolk Hospital.
Steve said: “Having the opportunity to exceed the target we thought would be a great way to end the year.”
With more still coming in – the total now stands at £58,000 – any extra cash will fund further enhancements to the equipment.
Editor Barry Peters said: “This was always going to be a huge sum to raise in a year, but the community took Beat It! to its heart. I want to thank everyone who donated.”
Yes, our Beat It! appeal has overtaken its £55,000 target.
It seemed a huge amount when we decided at the beginning of the year to raise the money to buy West Suffolk Hospital a prostate cancer probe but readers and local organisations took the appeal to heart.
St Edmund’s Wheel gave us an amazing £10,000 donation. But do not give up if you have money raised for the appeal because it is still welcome. There are additional costs which the hospital would have had to cover had we only raised £55,000.
Dave Gooderham, fund-raising manager for the hospital, said: “The astounding generosity shown by the public in raising even more than £55,000 allows us to further enhance the care and services we can offer to patients living with prostate cancer.”
The new machine will give higher resolution scans than the current equipment, enabling staff to better target biopsies to treat the cancer.
Each year, 40,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer, which kills about one an hour. But Beat It! has not only raised money, it has raised awareness.
Urology nurse practitioner Kay Trabucchi said: “I do the rapid access clinics and guys have come along recently who have been encouraged to do so by the campaign .”
For many donating to Beat It!, prostate cancer was more than statistics. Just two weeks after the appeal began, Barrow Bowls Club gave £900 and treasurer Valerie Wyatt said: “Quite a few of our members have been affected by prostate cancer in some way.”
Sadly, several donations came from funeral collections.
But there was a fun side to fund-raising, too. The Woolpit Drama Club’s naked ambition in staging Calendar Girls raised £2,500.
In April, St Edmund’s Wheel held its first fund-raiser, with round-Bury rides of 15 to 100 miles. Later it held an off-road ride in King’s Forest.
In July, West Suffolk Hospital, St Edmunds Round Table and West Suffolk Hospital held a highly successful Bury It’s a Knockout competition.
That was typical of fund-raisers’ inventiveness. The hospital’s IT team cycled the equivalent of London to Le Mans in 24 hours on machines in the staff restaurant. On Saturday, 30 walkers, runners and joggers completed the 10km for 10 days challenge — they have raised between £1,500 and £2,000.
We even had racing pigs when the new Bury St Edmunds Lions Club held an electronic pig racing night.
Beat It! was also part of the Hospital Charity event in the arc last Saturday with the chance to have your picture taken in a Jordan Formula One car. Between the arc and a bucket collection at Bury Rugby Club, we raised £850. Saturday’s event also raised money for the Breast Cancer Campaign and Operation Jordan, a fund for a £50,000 operation for Bury boy Jordan Chaplin, who has cerebral palsy.
You can still donate to Beat It! at www.justgiving.com/BFP-Beat-It or by using your green token in Bury Waitrose’s Community Matters charities box.
