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08
Aug 2021
Leading the Harrogate cancer charity fighting to save 2,000 lives a year
It's a little known fact that 2,000 more people die of cancer each year in Yorkshire than the national average.
More smoking, less exercise, pockets of deprivation and variable screening rates are among the causes.
Dr Kathyrn Scott, chief executive of Harrogate-based Yorkshire Cancer Research, is leading the fightback:
Dr Scott, a scientist, joined Yorkshire Cancer Research in 2008 as an office junior and worked her way up to chief executive four years ago. She's far from the archetypal scientist, laughing a lot and joking that "I actually like people".
Yorkshire Cancer Research, which is the largest voluntary organisation in the Harrogate district, has had remarkable financial success in recent years: income has soared from £6.2 million in 2016 to £18.7 million in 2020 and is expected to increase again this year.
By contrast, covid has decimated many charities' finances — cutting donations, cancelling fundraising events and closing charity shops.
New Harrogate headquarters with wellbeing centre
Yorkshire Cancer Research's coffers are bearing the fruits of royalties from a drug called Lynparza that it funded Sheffield University to develop.
Royalty income alone increased from £6.7 million in 2019 to £12 million in 2020, which is enabling the charity to press ahead with plans to expand and tackle cancer.
It has opened more shops, employed more staff and is set to announce a move to new Harrogate headquarters, which will include a wellbeing centre where people with cancer can exercise as part of their recovery.
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Wellbeing has become a major focus of the charity's work and it hopes to open similar exercise facilities across Yorkshire. Dr Scott says:
The charity, which is currently based at Grove Park Court, expects to reveal its new headquarters in autumn. Dr Scott says:
Recruiting more staff and opening more shops
The number of staff has grown from about 40 when Dr Scott took charge to 53 now and is expected to rise to 65. From September, it will trial a hybrid system whereby employees work two-thirds of the week in the office and one-third from home.
The charity, which is the largest regional cancer research charity in England, opened its fourth charity shop in Ripon this year and hopes to have 20 shops within five years.
The charity's strong financial position has also ensured it hasn't had to cut funding to research programmes — unlike some other cancer charities during covid. It funds £10 million of cancer research each year.
But for all its success, Dr Scott admits Yorkshire Cancer Research's overarching ambition to save 2,000 Yorkshire lives by 2025 might not happen on schedule because of the wider impact of covid on cancer services.
Hospital services have been scaled back and people who have discovered symptoms, such as blood in their poo, have felt less inclined to bother their GPs.
But she says people in the Harrogate district have been luckier than most in Yorkshire:
Dr Scott, who was born and bred in Bradford but has lived in Harrogate for about 20 years, is a keen cyclist who nominates Norwood Edge and Greenhow Hill as among her favourite rides.
They're two of the most notorious climbs in the area — Dr Scott will be hoping the charity can continue to avoid such uphill struggles in the years ahead.
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