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Cancer Support Charities, CLAN and UCAN, to benefit from Scottish Home Show.

The organisers of the Scottish Home Show 2013, which comes to Aberdeen in September, have chosen North-east cancer support charities UCAN and CLAN to benefit from the event.

The Scottish Home Show will build on the success of its inaugural event last year, when it returns to Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) from September 27-29.

More than 200 exhibitors are expected to exhibit at the three-day event, which will showcase the latest in home improvements, garden design, furniture, gadgets and interiors and is set to attract over 10,000 visitors.

TV personality and former BBC Changing Rooms presenter Carol Smillie will appear while Tommy Walsh, known for his role on gardening series Ground Force, will also host regular DIY presentations throughout the weekend.

CLAN and UCAN have both been given stands to help raise awareness of their current fundraising campaigns as well as receiving the proceeds from a charity raffle.

UCAN is raising £2.5milllion to bring Scotland’s first Robotically-Assisted Surgical System (RASS) and two integrated operating theatres to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, while CLAN is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary which will culminate in a series of fundraising and awareness events throughout the 30 days of September.

Isla Stewart of the Scottish Home Show said: “We like to work with local charities as often as we can, so the Scottish Home Show provides an excellent opportunity for us to give something back. We thought long and hard about who would be our chosen charities for this year’s event, meeting with many of them before deciding, and agreed that UCAN and CLAN were our preferred partners.

“Having seen the amazing work that both charities do, coupled with their big plans for the future, our decision was unanimous. We are extremely proud to be working with both charities, and look forward to building on this relationship going forward.”

Susan Crighton, fundraising manager at CLAN, said: “We are incredibly grateful to be selected as one of the chosen charities for the Scottish Home Show in what is a special year for the charity as we celebrate our 30th anniversary.

“The three-day exhibition has established itself as a prominent feature in the North-east’s event calendar and we are looking forward to being part of it in September.”

Fiona JD Pearson, UCAN’s fundraising manager, said: “We delighted to be working with the Scottish Home Show and CLAN to raise awareness of the support that we offer to patients here in the North-east, as well as raising money.

“This opportunity will help us with our target of raising £2.5million to purchase this incredible technology, which has the potential to benefit everyone in the North-east of Scotland, either directly or indirectly.”

The RASS that UCAN hopes to purchase utilises powerful and advanced tools, which enables very intricate and precise keyhole surgery to be carried out in patients, and has numerous benefits over traditional ‘open’ surgery, including faster recovery, less pain post operation, less blood loss, shorter hospital stay and faster operating times.

Widely used across the USA and Europe but with 36 in England and none in Scotland, the RASS will be particularly beneficial for patients with prostate, bowel, rectal and gynaecological cancers and non-malignant conditions, and has the potential to be used in other specialities such as cardiac and paediatric surgery.

ENDS

Issued on behalf of UCAN by The BIG Partnership. For more information, please contact Shona Hendry on 01224 253815 or shona.hendry@bigpartnership.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

UCAN was launched in late 2005 to raise awareness of prostate, testicular, kidney and bladder cancers, reinforce the importance of early diagnosis and self-checking, and support patients and their families.

The first of its kind in Scotland, the UCAN Care Centre at Ward 44 at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is manned by staff who are on hand to give advice to patients on all aspects of dealing with cancer. The facility includes a private clinicians’ room which opens out into an area with comfortable chairs, tea and coffee making facilities, fully equipped computers with internet access, an online forum, literature on urological cancers and the treatment on offer and plasma screens showing informative DVDs.

For more information, visit www.ucanfundraise.org.uk, call fundraising manager Fiona JD Pearson on 01224 559312 or email ucan@abdn.ac.uk

CLAN Cancer Support is an independent charity which provides comfort support and information, free of charge, for anyone, of any age, affected by any type of cancer. CLAN aims to support people to reduce anxiety, stress and to increase their ability to cope with the effects of a serious illness. Based in Aberdeen, the charity covers the whole of north-east Scotland, Moray, Orkney and Shetland. CLAN has a presence in Ballater, Banchory, Elgin, Inverurie, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Stonehaven, Kirkwall and Lerwick.

For further information about CLAN Cancer Support please call 01224 647000 or visit www.clanhouse.org

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