About our charity    

Charlie Bear for Cancer Care is the charitable fund dedicated to raising funds for the Northern Centre for Cancer Care (NCCC) at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne. The fund is administered by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Charity -  Reg No. 1057213.  

The original Charlie Bear Appeal was launched in 1978 by Daisy Clark MBE in memory of her husband Charlie to help raise £1 million to purchase the north east's first whole body CT scanner. Since then, Charlie Bear for Cancer Care has continued to raise funds to help local cancer patients at the NCCC. 

In December 2011, our Patron, Sir John Hall launched a £3 million appeal to bring state of the art radiotherapy to the region. In a unique collaboration with the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, the Newcastle Healthcare Charity and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a £200,000 donation from Charlie Bear helped secure the revolutionary Stereotactic Radiotherapy facility for the NCCC.  

The system is capable of delivering radiation with pin-point accuracy to tumours that are difficult to treat by surgery or conventional radiotherapy.  Treatment can now be completed in just a few short radiotherapy sessions instead of weeks. It means cancer patients in our region are now benefiting from the most advanced form of radiotherapy in the country. 

All of this has been made possible through the huge generosity and fundraising efforts of the north east public whose donations to Charlie Bear continue to support local people with cancer.  

Providing exceptional patient care is at the heart of everything we do at the NCCC and charitable donations are an important part of that. They enable us to keep pace with fast-moving developments in medical equipment and treatment allowing us to achieve things far more quickly than would otherwise be possible.  We have been able to buy more sophisticated equipment, extra patient comforts and provide specialist staff training and funding for local research projects to develop new treatments and technologies. 

"Without your support, none of this would be possible and we thank each and every one of you"

Sheila Alexander, Co-Chair, Charlie Bear for Cancer Care Charitable Fund & Directorate Manager, Cancer Services, NCCC, Freeman Hospital

How you can help

If you would like to support Charlie Bear for Cancer Care through a fundraising activity please contact us on 0191 213 7235 or email: Charity.Matters@nuth.nhs.uk  where help and advice will be provided, along with sponsorship forms if needed.

For further information visit our page on the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation trust webpage.