Cancer Research UK volunteers have helped to create a new tartan range to help support the organisation's work
Volunteers from a charity have went the extra mile by helping to create a special tartan.
Cancer Research UK’s chief executive Michelle Mitchell has shown her support for all Scots with cancer by wearing a new tartan with pride.
On a visit to Edinburgh this week, she teamed up with inspirational Heather Duff to showcase the Friends of Cancer Research UK scarf in a specially designed pink tartan created to help save lives. Heather, 32, of Winchburgh near Edinburgh is recovering from surgery to remove two tumours from her brain.
The tartan, designed and woven by Lochcarron of Scotland in their Selkirk mill, is now on sale in Cancer Research UK shops across Scotland.
It has been officially registered in the Scottish Register of Tartans and is available to buy in a range of products including the lambswool scarf for £22.49 as well as cufflinks, earrings, pendants, badges and notebooks - with 100% of net profits from sales going to fund life-saving research.
Every day, 88 people are diagnosed with cancer in Scotland. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, Cancer Research UK spends around £38 million a year in Scotland on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research – helping more men, women and children survive the disease.
Mitchell said: “It’s an honour to be able to promote this beautiful new tartan in Scotland’s capital.
“My family, like many others, has been affected by cancer. It’s a disease that doesn’t discriminate. In fact, one in two people in the UK will be affected by cancer in their lifetime. The scale of the problem is large, but the charity’s research is crucial to help improve survival and enhance the lives of those affected by the disease.
“Without any government funding for the work we do, Cancer Research UK needs to ensure that people understand why their support is so important and how we can beat cancer together. With their help, and by building the strongest possible team and working collaboratively, we can achieve the charity’s ambition of three in four people surviving their cancer by 2034.”
At work, Heather has been a leading light supporting the dedicated Selkirk volunteer fundraising committee who came up with the idea of creating the tartan.
Led by volunteer Elaine Monro, the committee has raised around £400,000 since it formed in 1966. Celebrities and politicians pictured wearing the tartan so far include Olympic gold medallist Katherine Grainger, record breaking wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn, musical theatre stars Michael Ball and Alfie Boe and the Scotland Sevens player and Olympic silver medallist, Mark Robertson - as well as Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom. A new more lightweight scarf in reiver tartan fabric is to be introduced this spring.
Heather said: “I’m so proud of the brilliant volunteers in Selkirk who have made the Friends of Cancer Research UK tartan so successful.
“I can’t thank Lochcarron of Scotland enough for their enthusiastic support at every stage of the process. Thanks to the huge progress that has been made in the fight against the disease, more people in Scotland are surviving cancer than ever before. One day I hope everyone will beat cancer.”
The Friends of Cancer Research UK tartan scarf costs £22.49 and is available to buy from Cancer Research UK shops in Scotland and from the online store.
