Special Appeals

Accelerating Towards the Future in Cancer Care | Breaking the Strangles Hold | Ollie's Fund | London Marathon

At the Animal Health Trust, we are renowned for our expertise, ground-breaking research and validation of new equipment and technologies long before many other veterinary establishments. In order to maintain our position at the top of our game, we are constantly campaigning to raise vital funds which allow us to buy new equipment, employ first class staff and develop ways of improving animal health and welfare.

To find out more about our current appeals, click on the links above or scroll down the page.

London Marathon – Running for the Trust

Four brave supporters will be taking up the challenge to run the London Marathon to raise funds for the Animal Health Trust. Tim Gredley, Mark Jordan, Karen Roberts and Simon Barnaby will join 32 000 other runners and take to the streets of London on 25th April for the grueling 26.2 miles of the London Marathon. So if you’d like to help them on their way please support them by donating now.

Mark Jordan

In 2007 Mark found himself in the London Marathon being pressed hard by “Dave” the Bakewell Tart. He’s having another go this year, determined to do well and raise funds for the Animal Health Trust which, as an animal lover himself, he thinks is a worthy charity to put all this sweat and slog into.

He has set up a justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/MarkJordan2010 so if you want to show your support this is the best way to do it!

Simon Barnaby and Lad (after England had just lost again)

Simon works in Cambridge and is setting himself a big personal challenge by undertaking to run the Marathon. He’s determined to finish it as he thinks the Animal Health Trust does amazing work for animals and he’s honoured to be running for the Trust.

He has set up a justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/Simon-Barnaby so if you want to show your support this is the best way to do it!

Karen Roberts

Karen wants to get super-fit, super-fast and needs a 26.2 mile incentive to do it. She gave up mince pies, wine and Christmas pudding and most of all, chocolate, in exchange for endurance and speedy legs because she believes the Animal Health Trust is a truly worthwhile cause to be doing it for!

She has set up a justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/KarenRobertsAHT so if you want to show your support this is the best way to do it!

Tim Gredley

Tim, son of Bill Gredley, is a professional showjumper based in Stetchworth near Newmarket and has represented Team GB on a number of occasions. Most notably in the Super League Nations Cup Team event in Dublin 2008 where he came first.

He is running the marathon to help raise funds for the Animal Health Trust because of their work in the prevention of diseases, diagnosis and treating injuries. The welfare of the horse is always a top priority.

He has set up a justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/TimGredley so if you want to show your support this is the best way to do it!

Accelerating Towards the Future in Cancer Care

Cancer statistics amongst animals are staggering, with one in four dogs and one in six cats being affected. Here at the AHT, we pride ourselves on our excellent oncology department and the care and expertise we can offer patients. Cat having Linear treatment

One vital piece of very advanced equipment we need to be able to reduce these statistics is a Linear Accelerator. This machine works by delivering high-energy radiation beams to break down tumours. This radiotherapy technique can destroy cancer cells, while sparing the surrounding normal tissue.

Our ability to give cancer patients the best possible treatment is currently hampered by a lack of this piece of key equipment. While we are fortunate to have first class facilities and equipment in some areas of cancer management, such as our MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner and chemotherapy suite, we are lacking in this major areas that is essential to provide a complete level of care.

The use of radiotherapy is absolutely vital for the treatment of some cancer types, as it is in people. We are currently sharing a radiotherapy facility but this severely reduces the number of patients we are able to treat.

Dog having treatment Linear Accelerators are common in US specialist veterinary centres and we know the benefits that they bring. We aim to become the leading veterinary Cancer Centre in Europe but cannot achieve this goal without investment in such technology.

To date we have raised over £300,000 towards a complete upgrade of our imaging facilities. We need a further £900,000 over the next two years and are appealing for funds from other charitable trusts and foundations and from individual donors.

If you would like to help us raise the funds for this appeal, please call the fundraising team on 01638 555648 or email fundraising@aht.org.uk.

Breaking the Strangles Hold – campaign and research update

In 2007, we launched the ‘Breaking the Strangles Hold’ campaign with The British Horse Society. Our aim was to raise £250,000. This would help develop diagnostic tests and possibly a vaccine to fight strangles.

We are delighted to announce that we have smashed our fundraising target thanks to a lot of hard work and generous donations from the general public.

The monies raised, along with funding from The Horse Trust, has allowed our scientists to develop a revolutionary diagnostic blood test to screen for exposure to the infection. We launched the blood test in February 2008 and since then more than 8,000 samples have been tested.

Horse with Strangles The great news for horses and owners worldwide is the success of this diagnostic work, and other research we have undertaken, has attracted further funding for the project from the Wellcome Trust. We’ve been awarded a Translation Award of more than £580,000 to enable us to reduce the time taken to diagnose the disease.

We are the first-ever veterinary recipients of the award. With the grant, we aim to reduce the time taken to perform the DNA diagnostic test. Ultimately we’d like to produce a point-of-care test that vets can use on site to get a diagnosis in 30 minutes.

In two years time we will have designed and validated the point-of-care diagnostic test. We hope that the test will be mass produced and widely available by 2012.

Ollie's Fund: AHT Canine Epilepsy Research Fund

Ollie's Fund Logo Epilepsy is a disorder affecting around 1% of the human population and 5% of dogs. It can occur in any breed, although typically some are more commonly affected than others.

Epilepsy can have a huge impact on the quality of life of both the dog and owner and, for this reason, many epileptic dogs end up being euthanased. Ollie’s Fund has been set up to allow researchers at the Animal Health Trust to research into the cause of the illness and prevent dogs like Ollie suffering in the future.

The Trust’s Neurology Unit has several ongoing projects to improve the understanding, treatment and, most importantly, the prevention, of epilepsy. This goal can only be achieved with the help and expertise of the specialist Canine Genetics Department at the Trust. By studying the genetics of the condition in a variety of breeds, it is anticipated that a number of different genes will be identified that play a role in the development of canine epilepsy.

In order to continue this pioneering research, the Animal Health Trust needs funding. Any money raised for ‘Ollie’s Fund’ will go directly towards this project, and will support the work being done to get to the root of canine epilepsy.

For Ollie’s Story, click here.

If you would like to make a donation towards this fund please click here or call the fundraising department on 01638 555 620.

Great Success for AHT Marathon Runners

Huge congratulations go out to the five Animal Health Trust (AHT) supporters who took part in, and completed, the Flora London Marathon on Sunday 26th April.

Two members of AHT staff competed in the race – Maire O’Brien, Senior Secretary and Administrator, finished in 4 hours 18 minutes and Oliver Forman, Genetics Research Assistant took 4 hours 22 minutes.

Three AHT supporters also ran. Robert Webbon, son of AHT Chief Executive Dr Peter Webbon, completed the 26-mile run in 3 hours 29 minutes, and Laura Hudson, whose dog has been treated in the charity’s Small Animal Centre, finished with her close friend and running partner Maire in 4 hours and 18 minutes. Our third and final runner was animal lover Jolene Hammonds, who finished in 6 hours and 17 minutes.

Around £102,400 was raised by the five which will enable to AHT to continue its vital work and research towards the health and welfare of dogs, cats and horses.