People in Huddersfield are being urged to show their support for World Cancer Day.

Cancer Research UK is calling on the public to donate or wear one of the charity’s Unity Bands with pride on Friday, February 4 – which also marks the charity’s 20th anniversary. Bands are available at the charity’s shop in Ramsden Street, Huddersfield.

Every year, around 33,300 people are diagnosed with cancer in Yorkshire and The Humber.

Wearing a Unity Band is a way of showing solidarity with those affected. Available in three different colours – pink, navy and blue – it can be worn in memory of a loved one, to celebrate people who’ve overcome cancer or in support of those going through treatment.

Marked on February 4, World Cancer Day is an international initiative, uniting people across the globe to take action against the disease.

For Cancer Research UK the awareness day takes on extra significance this year, as it celebrates its 20th birthday and pays tribute to its supporters for the part they have played in funding cutting-edge research.

Their generosity has helped to reveal more of cancer’s secrets and more ways to beat it – leading to more people than ever in the UK surviving their cancer for 10 years or more.

Although formed in 2002, the charity’s history dates back to the founding of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in 1902. Its work has been at the heart of some of the biggest developments in cancer, from radiotherapy to some of the most used cancer drugs around the world today.

By donating or getting a Unity Band, people in Huddersfield can help Cancer Research UK to keep making breakthroughs such as this, as it fights back from the impact of the pandemic.

Nicki Embleton, the charity’s spokesperson for Yorkshire, said: “This past year proves, more than any other, the value of investing in science and medical research.

“Thanks to our supporters, we’ve achieved so much. Every day we see the benefits of research we’ve previously funded being realised, helping people live longer and healthier lives.

“One in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime, so we will never stop striving to create better treatments for tomorrow. That’s why, as we mark our anniversary this World Cancer Day, we hope people across Huddersfield will wear a Unity Band with pride – knowing they are helping to save and improve lives for generations to come.

“We’ve come so far. And we will go much further. Together we will beat cancer.”

Cancer Research UK spent over £5 million in Yorkshire last year on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.

Unity Bands are available in Cancer Research UK shops and online at cruk.org/worldcancerday for a suggested donation of £2.

FACT FILE: A LEGACY OF RESEARCH

20 years of Cancer Research UK. 120 years of life-saving discoveries.

World Cancer Day on February 4 marks 20 years since Cancer Research UK was formed. However, its history goes back much further, to 1902, with the founding of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.

In that time the charity has made transformative steps in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer including:

  • Helping to double breast cancer survival in the UK over the last 40 years;
  • Helping to prove the value of cervical screening, which now prevents thousands of deaths every year;
  • Being a key player in the development of radiotherapy, which now benefits more than 130,000 patients every year in the UK;
  • Helping to prove the link between tobacco and cancer, preventing millions of deaths worldwide.

To play your part visit cruk.org/worldcancerday