4 April 2017

A charity appeal to buy a specialist radiotherapy couch to treat cancer patients has reached its £166,000 target in just seven months.

ON TARGET: Pictured from left: Louise Dawson (Lingen Davies Fundraising Manager), Aurona Kenny (Lingen Davies Trustee), Naomi Atkin (Lingen Davies Executive Officer), Louise Killey (Radiotherapy Services Manager), Sally Hodson (Operations Manager) and Jane Trudgill (Lingen Davies Fundraising Officer)

The Lingen Davies Cancer Fund extended its ACTION appeal in September, after reaching the original £750,000 target to fund a new Linear Accelerator – the machine that delivers radiotherapy – four months early.

The couch will benefit patients through increased versatility in positioning, which means that they can be positioned accurately and more comfortably during treatment. This will improve treatment outcomes.

The new couch will be of particular benefit to patients with head and neck tumours who often lose weight as treatment progresses, causing their treatment site to become misaligned.

Louise Dawson, Fundraising Manager, said “We are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped us to achieve this total in such a short period of time; it will make a massive difference to cancer patients receiving radiotherapy treatment in the region.”

Louise Killey, Radiotherapy Services Manager, added: “The new couch will enable us to deliver more accurate radiotherapy; this should help to improve patient outcomes whilst reducing radiotherapy side effects.”

Both the Linear Accelerator and the specialist radiotherapy couch will be in use at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital later in the summer.

For further information about the appeal please contact the Lingen Davies Fundraising Team on 01743 492396.