A decade later, Sir Bobby’s legacy lives on in centre
FOUNDATION FUNDING CANCER RESEARCH HAS RAISED MORE THAN £13M
TEN years ago, the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre opened.
Proudly doing the honours was Sir Bobby himself, days after he celebrated his 76th birthday.
His family were joined by the likes of Alan Shearer and then-England manager Fabio Capello at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care, based at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital on February 20, 2009.
The former Newcastle boss was one of the first patients to be treated, though he would sadly go on to lose his battle with cancer in July that year.
Sir Bobby had launched his charity, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, in March 2008 to raise the £500,000 needed to equip the centre.
His foundation has gone on to raise more than £13m to find more effective ways to detect and treat cancer.
Now one of the most active cancer clinical trials units in the UK, patients and staff at the Sir Bobby Robson Centre work together to improve the treatment and diagnosis of cancer and study the effects of new drugs, for the benefit of this generation and generations to come.
Shearer is now a patron of Sir Bobby’s foundation and remembers the opening day in 2009 fondly.
He said: “I remember it very well. Sir Bobby gave a wonderful speech that went on and on. It was a bit like at halftime when 15 minutes wasn’t long enough for him in the dressing room. Once he started talking, you knew it was going to go on for a while.”
Capello not only attended the opening of the Sir Bobby Robson Centre, he also brought a £75,000 donation from the Football Association with him.
Adrian Bevington, now head of recruitment operations at Middlesbrough FC, was the FA’s director of communications in 2009 and accompanied Capello to the opening. He remembers a scare before they arrived in Newcastle.
Adrian says: “It was incredible to be in the company of Sir Bobby that day and it will forever live with me.
“We had a bit of a scary start to the
day when we had an early flight from Stansted, which was local for me but not local for Fabio Capello.
“Fabio was late for the flight, which was full and ready to go. So, I was standing at the gate begging them to hold it.
“And I kept saying, ‘It’s for Fabio Capello and it’s for Sir Bobby Robson. Please, he’s got to be there.’ And thankfully they did hold it and it turned out to be a wonderful day.
“We were very fortunate afterwards to go back and spend a bit of time with Sir Bobby and his family privately talking football. It was just wonderful.
“I know it meant a lot to Fabio. He knew Sir Bobby from when he was manager of Real Madrid and Sir Bobby was manager of Barcelona. And he cared deeply for Sir Bobby.”
The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre offers patients from across the North East and Cumbria access to early drug trials and potential new treatments.
The number of cases of cancer in the region is higher than the national average and the centre sees around 300 new patients every year.
As well as equipping it, Sir Bobby’s Foundation funds training posts for a specialist clinical trials doctor and nurse within the centre and there has been an increase in clinical trials open to recruitment, currently over 50.
There has also been an increase in referrals and patients going on to drug trials – from August 2017 to 2018, there were 2,183 patient visits to the centre.
Often these are ‘first in human’ trials. The Sir Bobby Robson Centre’s dedicated staff also coordinate trials of drugs at later stages of development, working with the National Cancer Networks to ensure patients get offered the best options for treatment.
They work closely with the Imaging Research Centre to improve diagnosis and study the effects of new drugs.
Many patients are also enrolled in other research studies, studying the biology and genetics of cancer to help develop and improve treatments.
Cancer drug trials are a team effort and in 2013 the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation was proud to join the Newcastle Cancer Centre. The partnership launched in 2009 and is a collaboration of Cancer Research UK, the North of England Children’s Cancer Research Fund, Newcastle University and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Working within the NHS, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation does not employ professional fundraisers to proactively raise money and relies completely on third-party volunteer fundraisers and the incredible generosity of the general public.
For more information, visit www.sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk