Yorkshire cancer charity launches appeal to help give people in Yorkshire and beyond more Christmases together

Over 2,600¹ people in Yorkshire will be diagnosed with cancer this Christmas.  

Yorkshire Cancer Research is calling on people to support its 2025 Christmas appeal, For More Christmases Together, to help fund life-saving cancer research and innovative cancer services in Yorkshire. This festive season, the charity is highlighting how donations can help give people with cancer, and their families, more time and more precious moments together.  

Yorkshire Cancer Research currently funds £75 million of pioneering research including 26 clinical trials, to find new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer in Yorkshire. Thanks to the generosity of supporters, the charity has been saving and extending lives for 100 years.

Supporting the campaign is Russell McFarlane and his family from Sheffield. Russell was diagnosed with prostate cancer just before Christmas last year. The 65-year-old from Sheffield wanted to get tested after learning men of Afro-Caribbean ethnicity are significantly more likely to get prostate cancer. 

Because Russell’s cancer was found early, he was eligible for several treatment options and chose a less invasive type of radiotherapy treatment called brachytherapy, which gave him minimal side effects.

Professor Jim Catto, Russell’s consultant, is one of 750 cancer experts working with the charity to find new and better ways to detect and treat cancer in Yorkshire. Based in Sheffield, Professor Catto cares for people from across the region with bladder and prostate cancer.  

Following Russell’s cancer diagnosis, Jim explained the treatment options available to him and the benefits early detection could have on the effectiveness and outcomes of his treatment. 

For Russell, the hardest part of his radiotherapy treatment was not being able to hug his grandchildren to protect them from any radiation he could expose them to.

Now, as he approaches the first Christmas since his diagnosis and subsequent treatment, he is helping to raise awareness of the importance of early detection and the work of Yorkshire Cancer Research in giving people and their families more time together.

This includes a major new prostate screening trial, called IMProVE, led by Professor Jim Catto, which is investigating how a national screening programme for prostate cancer could be introduced to save lives.

Led by researchers at the University of Sheffield and in partnership with Queen Mary University of London, the trial is investigating how a national screening programme for prostate cancer could be introduced so men at risk of developing the disease, who don’t have symptoms, are automatically invited for testing without having to ask.  

It will also investigate whether a programme that combines prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood tests with MRI scans could save lives and if so, how to make screening accessible to everyone who needs it.  

Professor Jim Catto, said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, yet there is no national screening programme for prostate cancer. There should be, but we need to understand how best to deliver this. Many men have small prostate cancers, which will grow very slowly and so do not need to be found. ”

The trial will initially involve 4,500 people aged 50 to 69 in Sheffield and Leeds and may be expanded to other parts of the region.

Russell said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, but it's too easy to procrastinate, to think ‘it will never happen to me’. Until it does. That’s why it’s imperative to get these tests done as soon as you can, It’s fantastic the IMProVE trial in Yorkshire is being funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research. Just imagine how many guys could be saved because of it! Until a formal screening programme is in place, I will keep telling the men I meet to get tested.”

Since his diagnosis, Russell has welcomed a new grandson and is now looking forward to Christmas.  

“I can’t wait to spend time with my children and grandchildren over the festive period, including taking the daughters to see a Christmas Carol. My favourite bits of the day itself are the games and the home-cooked traditional dinner! We also do a Boxing Day walk at Sheffield Botanical Gardens – it's a beautiful part of South Yorkshire and this walk has become something of a family tradition.  

As one of four grown-up children Russell and his partner Helen have between them, Rowen, Russell’s step-daughter, felt the impact of Russell’s diagnosis deeply, as did her siblings Ross, Lois and Alex.    

Rowen said: “When we found out about Russell’s cancer, it was just before Christmas. That time of year is usually filled with joy and being together, but suddenly his diagnosis was on everyone’s mind. We didn’t know what was going to happen, and that uncertainty was incredibly hard.”  

This Christmas, Rowen and her family are looking forward to spending Christmas all together, knowing Russell has had treatment and is hopeful for a positive outcome.  

Rowen is also expecting her first child in March, meaning Russell will soon be a granddad for the fourth time .

Dr Kathryn Scott, Chief Executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “This Christmas, there will be 222,000 people in Yorkshire who are living with cancer, or have been previously diagnosed with cancer.² Too many families and friends in Yorkshire are facing uncertainty and worry. Through ground-breaking clinical trials and research, like the IMProVE trial, the charity is working with cancer experts across the region to find new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. 

^{*Estimate for December 2025. Every month, 2,636 people in Yorkshire are told they have cancer.}  

^{**There are currently 221,936 people in Yorkshire who are living with and beyond cancer, according to cancer prevalence data for the period 1995 to 2022.}