On June 8th Redcentric will be taking part in and sponsoring The Great Knaresborough Bed Race to raise funds for the amazing  Kidney Cancer Support Network (KCSN) charity.
Sadly, we won’t be tucked up for long as the Bed Race is part fancy dress pageant, and part grueling time trial over a 2.4 mile course, ending with a swim through the icy waters of the River Nidd!
With this year’s theme being ‘Yorkshire’,  we have decided to dress our
team and bed up in true ‘Yorkshire farming style’, You’ll have to come along to see just what a treat we have in store.

We would really appreciate your support on the day, to spur our gallant team on. It’s a fantastic occasion, with the whole town turning out to watch and cheer, and we would like to raise some serious money too. The KCSN is very close to our hearts because of one remarkable Redcentric man

Reason for our chosen charity

Our very own Mark Ralston was diagnosed with Stage 4 Renal
Cell Carcinoma in July 2017 at the age of just 38; he had a 9cm tumour along with his kidney removed in September 2017 and then in December was given the devastating news that the cancer was aggressive and had spread into his lungs and adrenal gland. Whilst under the care of St James in Leeds his family started exploring treatment options and travelled around the country to seek the best advice. As a direct result of time spent with the KCSN Mark was the first person in the UK to be accepted onto the PRISM trial which delivers a combination of immunotherapy drugs and he has responded extremely well to these. The KCSN is an invaluable resource for anyone who is diagnosed with kidney cancer, it is a welcoming and supportive group of individuals who are all facing challenges and need charities like this in order to keep fighting.

A little bit about KCSN
The Kidney Cancer Support Network (KCSN) is a small, patient founded and patient managed charity who rely completely on donations and grants to carry out the work they do. Their mission is to provide personal and practical support, information and advice to kidney cancer patients, their carers and families. Their aim is that no patient, carer or family member should ever feel they have to face kidney cancer alone or without support and their work with government policy makers, the Department of Health,  N I C E and other charities means that the kidney cancer community is represented whenever cancer care or patient care is discussed or debated. They provide and manage the UK’s only complete clinical trials database to support all current research and clinical trials in the UK and this is managed by a clinical trials expert and medical writer who has worked within the kidney cancer clinical and patient community for many years.KCSN provides a safe and secure place where patients and carers can share their kidney cancer knowledge and personal experiences with others, safe in the knowledge that they are talking in confidence with other people who truly understand what they are going through. There is always someone to talk to and someone to listen no matter what time of the day or night. They also provide specialised services on a one to one basis to individual patients about kidney cancer research and clinical trials and can help to research different treatment options. Their years of experience and contacts with leading clinicians and researchers over the years, means they can direct patients to the best place to find financial and emotional counselling and can help patients navigate their way around what can be a very complex NHS system.