Construction company Dribuild has gone above and beyond to raise more than £50,000 for urgent medical research into the treatment of a rare blood condition at Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre.
Keynsham-based Dribuild started fundraising for the cause in March 2016 when it chose local hospital charity Above & Beyond as its Charity of the Year.
The business initially pledged to raise £50,000 but through a number of fundraising events including a meeting at Bath Racecourse, which raised over £33,000 in one day, the team’s final fundraising total stands at £53,000 – the highest amount fundraised by a single corporate partner.
The funds will go toward the treatment of Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) – a rare blood condition in which platelets are destroyed causing potentially life-threatening bleeding, bruising and severe tiredness. The autoimmune disease currently affects an estimated three in 100,000 adults and can be difficult to treat.
A team from Dribuild yesterday spent the afternoon with ITP research lead at University Hospitals Bristol, Dr Charlotte Bradbury, to find out more about the vital work her research team are doing and the difference the company’s fundraising will make.
She said: “The treatment for patients with a new diagnosis of ITP has not changed for decades and is unsatisfactory as the medicines have lots of side effects and often don’t work. It can take several months before the best treatment is found and the illness is controlled.
“In the meantime, patients feel very ill, have bleeding problems, drug side effects, frequent hospital visits and usually can’t work or carry on with their normal lives.
“The incredible amount raised by Dribuild will be essential to help us develop new blood tests that can predict the best early treatments for patients to help avoid side effects and most importantly, make them better quicker.”
Dribuild managing director Matt Tyler added: “Above & Beyond is a fantastic organisation whose work stretches from providing the latest equipment to funding new research in Bristol’s city centre hospitals – no doubt we’ve all been touched at some point in our lives by the brilliant care the doctors and nurses provide.
“The support and generous donations we have received from everyone has been incredible and we’d like to thank everyone who has contributed towards smashing our target of £50,000.”
Above & Beyond corporate partnerships & community fundraising manager Cressida Prout said the charity had been blown away by Dribuild’s dedication and commitment over the year.
“They have thrown themselves into fundraising from day one and the results are clear to see,” she said.
“Every penny raised will go directly to the ITP research group at Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre and will make a huge difference to their work into new treatments for ITP – a debilitating condition which has previously received little attention and funding.”
All money raised will go towards ground-breaking national research at Bristol’s hospitals which will benefit ITP patients across the UK. Specifically, the funds will help to develop essential new blood tests which predict whether certain treatments will work and enable doctors to select the best route of patient treatment on an individual basis.
Above & Beyond is Bristol’s hospitals’ charity. Itraises funds for all eight of Bristol’s city centre hospitals. Each year, it invests around £3m in projects that make a real difference to patient care.
For more information visit www.aboveandbeyond.org.uk
Pictured below, back row from left: Mike Holt, Matt Tyler, Dr Charlotte Bradbury, John Hope and Helene Cook. Front row: Sarah Abernethy-Hope, Cressida Prout , Meg Abernethy-Hope, Catherine Harris
Pictured below: Dribuild managing director Matt Tyler in the ITP research lab
Pictured below: The Dribuild team in the lab. All photos by Paul Poynter
