About Stand Up to Cancer

1 October 2014

Alan Carr, Davina McCall and Dr Christian Jessen are gearing up to host Stand Up To Cancer’s big, live fundraising TV extravaganza on Friday 17th October. Brought to the UK as a joint campaign from Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK, Stand Up To Cancer hopes to raise millions of pounds to help accelerate new cancer treatments to UK patients and save more lives.

More than 900 people are given the devastating news that they have cancer every day, but thanks to ground-breaking research, they are now twice as likely to survive the disease as 40 years ago.

In 2012, which was the first UK event, Stand Up To Cancer became the most successful charity fundraiser on UK commercial TV, watched by nearly 8 million viewers.

Every single penny of the staggering £8 million raised went to Stand Up To Cancer. The money helped finance 12 clinical trials around the UK, including the most sophisticated bowel cancer trial ever to be undertaken in the world. From tackling rare but deadly cancers to testing new treatments, all of the Stand Up To Cancer funded research aims to bring breakthroughs in the labs to patients sooner, and bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

Research has already enabled us to reach the point where two in four people will now survive cancer for at least ten years, thanks to advances such as new treatments. But the fight is far from over with far too many lives still being lost to cancer every year. With exciting new trials already being worked on, including those that help in the battle against bowel, breast and brain cancer, as well as some rare cancers, like head and neck and bile duct cancer, Cancer Research UK are aiming to reach the point where three in four people will survive cancer in the next 20 years.

This year’s Stand Up To Cancer live TV show promises to be bigger, better and bolder. Alan Carr will be presenting a special Chatty Man show on the night and many stars including Clare Balding, Blake Harrison, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Coogan and Anna Friel have already contributed to the campaign.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Bradley Cooper, Samuel L Jackson, Cheryl Cole, Leona Lewis, Heston Blumenthal, Jonathan Ross and Jeremy Piven were a few of the celebrities who all supported the campaign in 2012 and there will be plenty more big name global stars making a special appearance on this year’s show.

But there will also be some moving, real life stories too as part of a timely reminder that the more money raised - the more viewers can make a difference.

As Davina, who sadly lost her own half sister, Caroline, two years ago to lung cancer explains, cancer holds no prisoners. “Cancer is a bastard,” she says passionately. “It holds no prisoners. It takes who it wants. “I lost my sister, Caroline, two years ago to lung cancer. Her passing has left a gaping hole in my life.

“What I love about Stand Up To Cancer is that it feels like the money is going towards something that can really revolutionise the way we treat people for cancer. You can see your money is making a difference. This research is going to change our lives, the lives of our children and it is going to be huge.”

Channel 4 head of entertainment Justin Gorman, who himself has battled cancer in the past, adds: “This year’s Stand Up To Cancer is going to be very exciting. We don’t like to do things in a small way…. it’s a biggie. We do want to make it bigger and better than 2012. We want to raise money and raise awareness. What is interesting for us is future proofing ourselves. We are working with the labs to work out how to beat it.

This year, we are looking to innovate and make the evening look like nothing else you have ever seen. Not only do we want to bring in lots of Channel 4 faces, but we also want to make it global by having plenty of film and sport stars on.”

This year’s Stand Up To Cancer will also include some epic fundraising events across the country that have been organised to support the campaign including March On Cancer™. This sponsored night-time walking experience will be a collective show of force against cancer with thousands of men, women and children marching in 15 simultaneous nationwide events in city centres across the UK on Saturday 11th October. Participants will be taken on an inspirational journey to remember those we have lost and to celebrate the research that has helped to save lives.

And for those adrenaline junkies, Stand Up To Cancer is also organising ‘London 3 Peaks™, an epic endurance event which will see 400 competitors scale and abseil three iconic London landmarks – the Gherkin, Salesforce Tower London (formerly Heron Tower) and 200 Aldersgate in an epic show of unity on Sunday 5th October.

The live TV show will be an amazing showcasing finale to the fundraising campaign in what is already proving to be exciting times in the development to find cures against a disease that still remains the number one health concern amongst people in the UK.

As Cancer Research UK – UCL Centre’s co-director Professor Henning Walczak explains, every single person can make a difference.

He says: “We, as scientists, are driven by a combination of what we see in the lab and what we think can translate into patient benefit. This translation often takes too long and the reason for this is simply lack of money. Stand Up To Cancer, bridges exactly this funding gap and thanks to every single person contributing to Stand Up To Cancer, we can now make a difference that nobody else is ready to make. We simply want to bring our lab findings to the clinic and give every cancer patient their best shot at fighting the disease.”

Founded in the US in 2008, Stand Up To Cancer has harnessed the support of the entertainment industry to generate millions in pledges for cancer research. And whilst cancer’s only agenda is to spread, thanks to the generosity of millions of people, it’s starting to lose the battle…

 

Notes to editors

The fight against cancer is at a turning point. More people in the UK are surviving than ever before. And that’s down to one thing: money, funding groundbreaking research.

Cancer has one agenda: to spread. But it’s starting to lose the battle. It’s payback time: Stand Up To Cancer.

 

About Cancer Research UK

• Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research
• Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives
• Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound donated.
• Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years.
• Today, 2 in 4 people survive cancer. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that 3 in 4 people will survive cancer within the next 20 years.
• Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
• Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured
• For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.