Gifts in Wills: Barbara and John’s legacy

“Barbara and John were lovely people, and they lived remarkable lives. The family is so glad that the money left to Yorkshire Cancer Research in their wills can go on help lots of people,” said Barbara’s sister-in-law, Jacquie Jarvis.

Barbara and John Hulme, from Chapel Allerton in Leeds, left a legacy to Yorkshire Cancer Research in their wills.

The world-leading research funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research is made possible by gifts like Barbara and John’s. Since 2015, the charity has funded £35.5 million of cancer research and services in the couple’s home city of Leeds.

Yorkshire Cancer Research funds world-leading research to help more people in Yorkshire survive cancer. Two breast cancer drugs, Tamoxifen and Lynparza, which are used to help prevent breast cancer returning after treatment, were developed with funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research. The drugs have since been approved for other types of cancer and are taken by millions of people across the world.

The charity also funds programmes to help more women take part in breast screening, which helps find cancer at an early stage when it can usually be treated more successfully.

The couple chose to leave a legacy to Yorkshire Cancer Research as Barbara’s mother, Vera, passed away after being diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1980s.

Jacquie continued: “Barbara had a very personal connection with the charity after her mother passed away from breast cancer. Advancements in cancer research, because of the work that Yorkshire Cancer Research does, as well as improvements in early detection due to screening, mean that being diagnosed with breast cancer now is a very different thing to when Vera was diagnosed.

Barbara and John first met while on holiday at a seaside resort and had a long-distance relationship while Barbara lived in London and John worked in Macclesfield. They moved to Chapel Allerton in Leeds after marrying in 1958.

Jacquie added: “John was an absolute train enthusiast and worked on the railways his whole career, so they travelled all over the world by train. They rode the Blue Train in South Africa, and travelled across Switzerland, Italy and France, as well as all over the Americas.

“They led really fulfilled lives and spent a lot of time with family here in Yorkshire and in Shropshire, and even in later life, they continued to travel. They were absolutely lovely people, and always very polite and generous. It was a privilege to know them both.”

Dr Kathryn Scott, Chief Executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “Gifts in wills are so important to the vital work we do as a charity. We are grateful to Barbara and John, and their family, for thinking of us.

“The generosity of those who have remembered Yorkshire Cancer Research in their will is helping to save lives in Yorkshire today.”