THE Sir Bobby Robson Foundation has raised £4.7m for the fight against cancer since its launch four years ago.

The charity was founded by the legendary England and Newcastle manager, who lost his own battle against the disease.

During 2012, his widow, Lady Elsie officially opened the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation PET Tracer Production Unit, which was jointly funded by the charity and Newcastle University.

The charity also announced it was contributing £850,000 towards life-saving new cyber surgery equipment at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

Both of these major advances in treatment and tumour detection for cancer patients will work in tandem with the clinical trials of new drugs within the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre.

Together they are what Professor Ruth Plummer, director of the Sir Bobby Centre, describes as “pieces of a very special jigsaw to help fight cancer.”

She said: “We’ve been able to do so much thanks to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and we’re very grateful to everyone who has helped.”

Lady Elsie said: “It gives me great pleasure to see the legacy my husband left through the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation growing and helping even more people.

“The Foundation continues to be a great team effort against cancer and this really has been a great year for that team. No doubt Bob would compare it to winning the league.

“We can only help the experts find better ways to detect and treat cancer with help from all the generous people who support us and I’m very grateful to everyone who has contributed in any way." 

For more information visit www.sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk