Yorkshire Cancer Research Champions Trustees Behind Life-Saving Cancer Research

This Trustees’ Week (3 Nov – 7 Nov), Yorkshire Cancer Research is celebrating the vital contribution of its trustees in helping to save lives in Yorkshire.

Chaired by Sir Alan Langlands, the Board of Trustees is made up of 13 dedicated volunteers who generously give their time and expertise to help shape the work and future of Yorkshire Cancer Research.  

With experience spanning healthcare, law, finance, academia and beyond, Yorkshire Cancer Research trustees bring a wealth of knowledge and a passion to support the charity’s mission to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer in Yorkshire. Together, they are helping Yorkshire Cancer Research move closer to its vision: a Yorkshire free from cancer.  

“Everyone at Yorkshire Cancer Research is united by the cause and it’s a privilege to be a part of that.” – Sam Jenner, Knaresborough 

Sam Jenner has called Yorkshire his home for over 20 years, having first arrived in 2003 to study at the University of Leeds and then attend law school. After starting work as a solicitor at Raworths in Harrogate, he moved to Knaresborough in 2015. Sam applied to be a trustee at Yorkshire Cancer Research after his dad sadly passed away from bowel cancer in 2020.  

“2020 was one of the best and worst years of my life. My wife and I welcomed our first son, which was incredible, but it coincided with my dad receiving the devastating news that he had stage 4 bowel cancer. He was diagnosed in May and passed away just a few months later. It was very quick and had a huge impact on our family. I knew after that I wanted to do something to give back.”  

Sam’s experience led him to Yorkshire Cancer Research, where he now provides legal guidance and expertise in charity law to support the charity’s work. Since joining, he has enjoyed seeing the charity grow and evolve, witnessing the life-saving impact it has on communities across Yorkshire.

Alongside volunteering his time and expertise, Sam recently raised over £2,500 for life-saving cancer research in Yorkshire by participating in the Montane Summer Spine Sprint North, a 43-mile race along the Pennine Way. A seasoned runner, Sam completed the Great North Run with his dad in 2016, and marathon training helped him to cope during his father’s cancer diagnosis. Sam has so far run eight marathons, clocking over 1,000km this year.

“You can’t put a price on the value of being active and getting outdoors, for both your physical and mental health. Living in Yorkshire means I have access to some of the best countryside. One of my favourites for training runs is Scar House reservoir, and this year I even ran the Yorkshire Three Peaks as part of my training!” 

He concluded: “Whether it’s reviewing board papers or taking on running challenges, I’m just pleased to be supporting a charity bringing life-changing cancer research to people across Yorkshire. Thanks to supporters, progress is being made every day so hopefully, fewer families in our region and beyond will have to experience what mine did.” 

“Yorkshire Cancer Research is a shining light for a more hopeful future, and I’m so pleased to play a part in it.” – Heather Jackson

Heather Jackson, from Huddersfield, has supported the work of Yorkshire Cancer Research since 2011, using both her professional and personal experience to help improve the lives of people with cancer and their families.  

In 2007, Heather was juggling a busy job in finance while raising three boys when she was told she had Hodgkin's lymphoma. After eight months of intensive chemotherapy, she returned to work in the financial sector until a second diagnosis meant she had to put her career work and normal life on hold again. This time, she was told she had stage 4 cancer, and there was a substantial chance she might not survive past a year.

Alongside months of intense chemotherapy and repeated hospital visits, Heather underwent a stem cell transplant and thankfully, it was successful. Since then, she has been committed to championing the role of cancer research in improving cancer treatments and support for people and families affected by cancer. 

After learning about Yorkshire Cancer Research and its work to benefit people with cancer in the region, Heather wrote to the charity, offering her expertise in business and personal insight from her own cancer experience.

“I joined the Yorkshire Cancer Research Advisory Panel in 2012, helping to review research applications and provide my perspective as someone in Yorkshire who has been affected by cancer. I enjoyed working with the charity so much that I immediately applied when a trustee role came up.”

Heather now brings her expertise in business, digital and technical transformation to Yorkshire Cancer Research and sits on the charity’s Strategy & Impact Committee, ensuring the charity’s strategy best meets its future needs. She currently works as a Non-Executive Director with companies including Ikano Bank, Rothesay Life (Pensions) and Skipton Building Society.  

“I feel a huge responsibility to everyone who works at, and with, Yorkshire Cancer Research. I always strive to strike a good balance: I am bound to the cause personally but also approach my work with a strategic mindset.” 

During her time at the charity, Heather has seen the life-saving impact of the charity’s bold decisions.

She concluded: “Research is the solution to finding more cures or treatments that give people longer, better lives. Yorkshire Cancer Research is a shining light for a more hopeful future, and I’m so pleased to play a part in it.” 

“Supporting an organisation like Yorkshire Cancer Research is vital to improving lives in the region, and beyond.” – Bob Steele

For Professor Bob Steele, from Edinburgh, his mission to help improve cancer diagnosis and treatment drew him to become a Trustee at Yorkshire Cancer Research.   

As Professor of Surgery at the University of Dundee for nearly 30 years, Bob developed a strong interest in bowel cancer treatment. He later played a pivotal role in leading a screening pilot that informed the Government’s decision to introduce bowel cancer screening programmes throughout the UK, so thousands of people across the country can experience the life-saving benefits of early diagnosis.

Bob said: “What’s motivating is that if you catch cancer early, you can do something about it. Especially in the case of early-stage bowel cancer, surgery can be such a powerful treatment. I’ve seen first-hand the impact of people going on to live longer, healthier lives after successful surgery. That’s why screening is so important.”

Bob’s extensive background in bowel cancer research led him to Yorkshire Cancer Research where he reviewed research grant applications, helping the charity decide which innovative new research projects it should fund. 

Bob is particularly passionate about FOxTROT 2 and FOxTROT 3, two world-leading international clinical trials funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research which explore providing personalised chemotherapy treatment to people with bowel cancer. These crucial studies are being delivered at hospitals across Yorkshire and beyond, giving people in the region access to cutting-edge research that aims to save lives.

Bob continued “Thanks to Yorkshire Cancer Research, FOxTROT 2 and 3 are part of an international programme of groundbreaking research projects that will improve the lives of people with bowel cancer around the world.”

Outside of his professional work, Bob enjoys walking his springer spaniel – something he calls a full-time occupation. He loves Scotland but sees Yorkshire as an honorary extension of home.  

Bob concluded: “Yorkshire is a big and beautiful region, yet it remains one of the areas hardest hit by cancer.

"It's vital we bang the drum for people from all backgrounds across Yorkshire to deliver the best cancer outcomes." – Bobby Ndawula

Bobby Ndawula describes his introduction to Yorkshire Cancer Research as serendipitous, coming at a time when two people close to him were undergoing cancer treatment. That experience, followed by his knowledge that cancer outcomes in the region were amongst the worst in the country, fuelled his passion to join the Board of Trustees in 2018. 

Bobby said: “Seeing people around me going through cancer treatment made it easy for me to say ‘yes’. My wife had cancer, and she’s thankfully been cancer-free for over five years now. Around the same time, a colleague of mine sadly passed away from cancer at the age of 50. Now that I’m 51, I can’t help but think about all the things I still want to do that she never had the chance to.”

After graduating from the University of Leeds in 1995, Bobby trained to be a chartered accountant with KPMG, working his way up to Group Chief Financial Officer at Skipton Group, and most recently as Group Chief Financial Officer at the Progeny Group. With a background in technology, governance, risk and finance, Bobby now chairs the Compliance & Risk Committee at the charity.

He is also a member of the People & Culture Committee, helping to create a workplace where colleagues feel inspired and motivated to support the mission of Yorkshire Cancer Research to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. 

One of Bobby’s biggest interests is the charity’s work in reducing health inequalities and ensure people who are often underrepresented in research, such as minority ethnic populations and deprived communities, have an opportunity to take part and benefit from life-changing cancer research and services.

“To me, getting cancer research opportunities and services into hard-to-reach communities will make the biggest impact. I’ve seen how the charity has grown and thrived over time, focusing on funding research and delivering services that can make a difference to people from all backgrounds. For example, the charity’s free stop smoking service support people from a range of backgrounds, including people who come from areas with high levels of deprivation, which we know often have worse cancer outcomes.”