{"id":285,"date":"2017-12-11T13:24:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T13:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/medicallyspeaking\/?p=285"},"modified":"2017-12-11T15:18:50","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T15:18:50","slug":"celebrating-a-year-of-successful-fundraising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/medicallyspeaking\/2017\/12\/11\/celebrating-a-year-of-successful-fundraising\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating a year of successful fundraising"},"content":{"rendered":"

Director’s Year End Blog:<\/strong>\u00a0 Professor Tim Elliott, Director for the Centre for Cancer Immunology, looks back on 2017, a year celebrating successful fundraising.<\/p>\n

In 2016 we saw the new Centre for Cancer Immunology (CCI) building rise from the ground as a concrete skeleton, reaching its final height in October \u2013 marked by a celebratory \u2018topping out\u2019 ceremony attended by the University, the Hospital and Kier (the builders).<\/p>\n

This year, it was watertight by January, and by the summer we could see the internal architecture coming together. Our fantastic fundraising team has been running at maximum speed \u2013 bringing in a further \u00a35m<\/strong> to the campaign this year. It has been a real pleasure to work with such inspiring and professional colleagues as they have motivated hundreds of University and hospital staff, students, alumni and members of the local community to get involved.<\/p>\n

A good example was in February<\/strong>. When the building was wearing nothing but its silver thermal underwear, the rest of us wore white for World Cancer Day and the team launched a successful social media campaign to raise awareness and engagement.\u00a0 There will be another #WearingWhite day on 1st<\/sup> Feb 2018 but, in the meantime, check out last February\u2019s blog<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another example was the ABP Southampton Marathon, Half Marathon & 10k in April,<\/strong> where the \u201cYou\u2019re it\u201d campaign fielded a team of over 230 runners who together raised an amazing \u00a340k for the campaign.\u00a0 Look at the pictures on our Facebook page<\/span><\/strong><\/a> and you\u2019ll see many faces<\/strong><\/span><\/a> from the Faculty of Medicine \u2013 including stalwart runners Mark Cragg and Andy Steele.\u00a0 You might even catch sight of the odd Faculty Dean among them!<\/p>\n

In July<\/strong>, the band Coldplay made a donation<\/span><\/strong><\/a> to the campaign, thanks to drummer Will Champion\u2019s connections with the University of Southampton.\u00a0 Will\u2019s mum and dad were both professors here and after he lost his mum to cancer, he brought the band behind him to support cancer immunology in his home town.<\/p>\n

In October<\/strong> we announced our largest single gift<\/span><\/strong><\/a> after the original seed-donation: \u00a0\u00a32m from a Guernsey resident.\u00a0 It brought massive media attention, and the 10th was one of those days when we just had to put normal business on hold to make sure all the radio and TV requests got seen to.<\/p>\n

In August, just five months after she visited us for a lab tour, we had the very sad news that Dame Helen Alexander, formidable chancellor of the University since 2011, died of cancer.\u00a0 You can read about her life as a leader in the Guardian obit<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0 and on Wikipedia<\/span><\/strong><\/a>. In November<\/strong> there was a fundraising concert<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in her honour, by the Great Milton Singers and Wheatley Singers. They performed Brahms\u2019 German Requiem, with two other choirs and a full orchestra. Dame Helen\u2019s husband Tim spoke and sang with the choirs at the concert, raising \u00a31,000 for the campaign.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, 2018 will be a busy and exciting year for our new world-leading Centre for Cancer Immunology.\u00a0 We are looking to move in on 18 March, are planning an event to mark the Centre construction completion for 24 April, and are hoping for an official Royal opening event in early summer, followed by a day of \u2018first-look\u2019 tours for our key supporters. With a final fundraising push, we hope to raise the \u00a325m and close the campaign by end July.<\/p>\n

So with these key dates in sight, and having reached 96 per cent of our target, we leave 2017 behind on a high and look forward to making the final six months of the campaign even more fun and productive!<\/p>\n

Tim<\/p>\n

Professor Tim Elliott, Director for the Centre for Cancer Immunology and Professor of Experimental Medicine<\/p>\n

PS: On the campaign website<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, you can also see all the news stories<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, including the research stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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