We are pleased to announce that the official charity for the Dave `Sharky` Barker's Presidential year will be The Anthony Nolan Trust.
For those of you who are not familiar with the charity, and the close ties to Round Table here is a little bit from their history:
Over the last 30 years, The Anthony Nolan Trust has grown from the personal crusade of one mother to become a world leader in matching donors with patients needing life saving bone marrow transplants. Although Shirley's quest could not keep her son alive, The Anthony Nolan Trust has given over 5,800 children and adults the gift of life since the charity was founded over 30 years ago.
Essentially finding the perfect match for some patients is like a lottery. 1,600 patients in the UK are awaiting a bone marrow transplant in the UK, yet only around half of them can be found a match. Fewer than 30% of patients are able to find a compatible donor with their own families - the rest rely on the generosity of strangers. 380,000 people on The Anthony Nolan Trust register just isn't enough. Quite simply, the more people on the register, the greater the chance of finding the matching number and saving lives.
' As long as I live I know I'll never do anything as important as becoming a bone marrow donor – I've had the opportunity to save someone's life – to do something greater than anything else and it takes so little.'
The Round Table has played an evolutionary role in the development of the charity. In 1974, Shirley established The Anthony Nolan Register in the basement of Westminster Children's Hospital, the organisation's first home, under the direction of Dr David James. Dr. James was a consultant pathologist, responsible for the donor testing programme at Westminster Children's Hospital, where Anthony was a patient. The help from Thanet Round Tablers in the establishment of the Register marked a long and illustrious history of support from The Round Tables of Great Britain and Ireland.
In 1978 after two years of planning and campaigning the Register moved to a disused laboratory at St Mary Abbots Hospital and there in September 1978 The Anthony Nolan Laboratory was officially opened. It was once again Round Table who raised the money for necessary materials and new equipment to turn a very old building into a modern laboratory.
During 1986, 100,000 new donors were recruited in a six week period through a nation-wide series of clinics organised by The National Association of Round Tables of Great Britain and Ireland. This effort more than doubled the size of the Register and put The Anthony Nolan Trust on the international map.
Two years later, the current Chairman, Simon Dyson was elected. Simon, National President RTBI 1990 -1991, had overseen Round Table's groundbreaking campaign on the Anthony Nolan Trust's behalf in 1986. The energy and commitment of Round Table in its Diamond Jubilee Year raised almost £1 million to enable the construction and equipping of the new laboratories.
Round Table has continued to support the Anthony Nolan and there's hardly a week-end goes by in the UK that doesn't see at least one Tabler hanging by a rope from a very high building or jumping out of an aeroplane!
It would be true to say that without the continuous support of The National Association of Round Tables of Great Britain and Ireland, The Anthony Nolan Trust would not be what it is today.
The Anthony Nolan Trust continues to evolve - to ensure it is doing everything possible to maximise the survival chances of anyone needing a bone marrow transplant.
It is time as an organisation, that we redouble our efforts to support what is very near to many Round Tabler's hearts - The Anthony Nolan Trust.