Crew Frank have had a great week focusing on our chosen charity. On Tuesday 18th April, Liz Luff from the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation came in to talk to our crew about the work of our chosen charity.
Liz told us a little about how the foundation came about when Sir Bobby was battling cancer for the fifth and what would be the final time. She explained that Ruth Plumber, a Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine, Newcastle University, had asked Sir Bobby if he could possibly use his contacts to help raise £500, 000 to help equip an important clinical research trials centre in Newcastle. From this request Sir Bobby, along with his wife Lady Elsie, set up the Sir Bobby Robson foundation. The response to Sir Bobby’s appeal for help was immediate and staggering and within less than two months of the Foundation being launched Professor Plummer had the £500,000 she needed. In February 2009, Sir Bobby officially opened the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre. Liz told us that Sir Bobby was so proud that the centre carried his name and he vowed to give a year of his life to this charity in order to support very important work to save lives. Sir Bobby described it as being at the helm of his last and greatest team. His passion for The Foundation, despite being very ill himself, resulted in him spending his last 18 months doing all he could to raise funds to help others facing cancer. He said he hoped it would become his legacy.
Sir Bobby achieved so much in his footballing career which included playing for England himself in the late 1950s and early 60s and managing England for 8 years from 1982-1990 before successfully managing huge clubs such as PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto, Barcelona and then his beloved Newcastle United. He was a man who was highly respected in the footballing world and beyond and this is why so many people were so keen to support him when he set up this important foundation. To date, The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation has raised over £18 million and the Centre offers patients access to early trials and potential new treatments and works closely with the Imaging Research Centre to improve diagnosis and study the effects of new drugs.
During a Crew check in on Wednesday morning we reflected on how we are now feeling about our chosen charity and the support we intend to give to it. The following are quotes from our Crew check in.
After listening to Liz when she came in to speak to us…
Emily – I feel like I know so much more about Sir Bobby and how important he was to a lot of people, not just football fans, and I am proud to be supporting the foundation.
Leon – I feel proud of us choosing this charity because of Sir Bobby being such a great person from our region.
Jayden – I feel glad that we chose this charity because it has a huge impact helping so many people and Liz talked to us about the important work they do.
Ruby – I feel inspired by Sir Bobby Robson being our role model as seeing what he achieved, despite being very ill, makes me think that we can do so much more.
Hannah – I feel intrigued to find out even more about what the foundation does as we carry on supporting it.
Harris – I feel more motivated and confident in what we are going to do because of the important work they do in finding new treatments.
Mrs Ross – I feel so inspired to help make a difference for people who are fighting cancer especially after finding out how motivated Sir Bobby was, despite his own battle, and knowing that there are people everyday who owe their lives to the work of the Sir Bobby Robson foundation.
Daniel – I feel more connected to the charity and motivated to fundraise on its behalf.
Macie – I feel much more confident and eager to support and to do our walk on Friday because I know much more about what Sir Bobby achieved and know we can achieve so much too.
Elyse – I feel motivated by the work that Sir Bobby did and the legacy he has left behind so I’m looking forward to supporting more.
Will – I feel honoured to have chosen to support this charity as we have listened to how passionate Sir Bobby was to help others and so I feel like this was a good choice.
Tyler – I felt very proud of our choice of charity to support as it started out small with a goal of raising half a million pounds to equip a cancer trials centre but has grown so big and we can be part of it continuing and growing to help even more people.
Gemma – I feel confident that we will be able to positively support the charity and proud to have chosen the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation as our crew charity.
Crew Day
Our walk together as a Crew on Friday was to raise funds for this important charity and also included some solo time and a visit to a local Buddhist temple in Hebburn.
