Background
About Cobalt
The Cobalt Appeal Fund (Cobalt) is a medical charity supporting people with cancer and other life-limiting conditions through the provision of cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment planning.
Cobalt was founded in 1964 in order to raise funds for the provision of a Cobalt cancer unit in Cheltenham. From then until the early 1990s the Charity continued to raise substantial funds for the purchase of equipment and for the provision of facilities for the unit that is now the Oncology Centre at Cheltenham General Hospital - a centre which serves the three counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
The Charity’s primary object is to assist in the prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases. Cobalt currently provides a state-of-the-art medical imaging centre in Cheltenham which includes Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography/Computerised Tomography (PET/CT) scanners. The Charity also operates a fleet of mobile MRI units supporting hospitals in the 3 Counties and beyond. Cobalt supports and facilitates research relating to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other life-limiting conditions, provides cancer prevention and education service and funds posts and equipment within the NHS in order to enhance local cancer services.
Cobalt Herefordshire Breast Cancer Appeal
Cobalt is going to develop the breast cancer screening and assessment service at Hereford County Hospital by providing a state-of-the-art digital mammography unit. This new unit will not only assist in the diagnosis of breast cancer but will mean that patients in Herefordshire who currently need to travel to Bromsgrove or Cheltenham can be seen at their local hospital.
The cost of this new mammography equipment is £160,000 and Cobalt will publically launch an appeal in summer 2012 in order to raise money to purchase the equipment. We are therefore looking for a local fundraiser to support the project.