Charity Spotlight: Edinburgh hosts Business Beats Cancer dinner

Business Beats Cancer Edinburgh brings together business leaders in the East of Scotland to raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK. Their fourth annual dinner was back at Prestonfield House – with more tables, a 500-strong crowd and a host of the city’s leading businesses including Forth Ports, The Craneware Group, Pinsent Masons, Morton Fraser and Ernst & Young in attendance.

Thanks to a silent and live auction led by McTear’s auctioneer James Bruce, the room upped last year’s total by more than £40,000 – meaning the event has raised close to half a million pounds in total for Scotland’s Cancer Research Centre of Excellence since its inception.

The theme of the evening was hope, with a strong dose of humour provided by the inimitable Janey Godley, who hosted proceedings and evoked tears of laughter and joy in equal measure as she shared her personal cancer journey with guests.

Amidst a glittering array of auction prizes, Janey also scored one of the highest bids of the night – an incredible £10,000 donation for two of her infamous voiceovers for the video of each winner’s choice!

The inspirational Dr Alex Loftus, a CRUK-funded researcher from the charity’s Scotland Centre gave the audience a fascinating first-hand account of just how crucial fundraising is for his work, which focuses on developing new drugs to treat and prevent the recurrence of one of the most common and deadly adult brain cancers – glioblastoma.

Scots sportsman Mark Beaumont returned to the event to share news of the launch of his Sports Beats Cancer initiative, inspired by his friendship with paralympic gold medallist and cancer sufferer David Smith MBE.

And Lou Kiddier, MD of the creative agency Always Be Content, and the event’s chair, rallied the room with her personal quest to support Cancer Research after losing her mum to the disease – and a reminder that without fundraising, the research can’t continue.

She said: “A huge thank you to everyone who got behind this year’s event and helped us smash last year’s fundraising target. Special thanks also to Janey for making the whole evening so much fun and inspiring our guests to dig deep for the cause. Cancer doesn’t care whose lives it turns upside down and sadly it will touch everyone in some way in their lifetime. Even royalty are not exempt. Thanks to medical science, survival rates are improving but the research has to keep going, and without the funding to train people with the specialist skills and buy the right equipment, these vital research programmes will stop,

“I always say, pray for a cure but pay for the research, which is a message that I think most people in the business world can understand! And the businesses who were with us last week definitely got the message and contributed to a wonderful and memorable evening. Thanks again to our amazing board and to everyone who has given us their support. We will be back next year to continue our message of hope, and of the power businesses have to make a difference in fighting this awful disease.”

Cancer Research UK invests over £7 million a year in Edinburgh. At the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre, world-leading scientists from the University of Edinburgh join forces with doctors from NHS Lothian. Together, they undertake outstanding research into the disease and improve care for those living with it.

The Scottish Housing News Charity Spotlight feature highlights the vital work of charities across Scotland each Friday. To include your local charity, whether housing-related or not, send your story and images to us at newsdesk@scottishnews.com.