Gloucestershire charity Hope for Tomorrow celebrates its Queen's Award for Enterprise

ON JUNE 30, at a special award ceremony at their offices in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, cancer charity Hope for Tomorrow was presented with its Queen's Award for Enterprise (Innovation category), 2016.

Dame Janet Trotter, DBE, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and former Chair of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, presented the award on behalf of HM The Queen to Christine Mills, MBE, founder and Trustee of the charity.

Other attendees included Trustees of the charity Ted Langston and Pat Barnard; Patrons Geoffrey Bray and Derek Bell MBE - the former racing driver, attending with his wife Misti and son Sebastian; members of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust medical team; and ambassadors and staff of the charity.

Hope for Tomorrow launched the world's first Mobile Chemotherapy Unit (MCU) in Gloucestershire in 2007, with the aim to bring cancer care closer to patients.

Today ten Units have been successfully launched and are in operation in partnership with NHS Trusts around the country.

They bring vital cancer treatments to patients, reducing travel, waiting times and the stresses and strains of busy hospitals.

The Queen's Awards are made annually by HM The Queen and are only given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated in each category.

Accepting the Award, Christine Mills said: "This award recognises our very special team, including staff, trustees, supporters, patrons, the nursing teams and our partners in the NHS. Without them we wouldn't be here today.

Our simple and innovative business model has enabled the public sector to adopt our Mobile Chemotherapy Units, easing pressure on Oncology Units, staff, and most importantly, patients.

"Hope for Tomorrow is delighted and honoured to have won the Queen's Award and to be recognised for our work.

We hope the Award will help us achieve our aim of having at least one Unit in every county, bringing cancer care closer to patients."

Dame Janet Trotter said: "I am delighted to be presenting this special award. I have known Hope for Tomorrow since it was founded and admire greatly the way this innovation helps cancer patients to receive a better experience at a critical time."

Dr Sean Elyan, Consultant Oncologist and Medical Director of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was instrumental in helping Hope for Tomorrow set up the first MCU in Cheltenham in 2007.

He said: "I'm delighted that Hope for Tomorrow has been recognised with a Queen's Award for Enterprise, which it thoroughly deserves. The charity has achieved a huge amount through its dedication, efficiency and focus on patient centred care, increasing both capacity and flexibility of service for the NHS Trusts it partners. I look forward to seeing more Hope for Tomorrow Units reaching more cancer patients around the country."