Plum Unlimited is a joint venture between Plum Layton Charitable Trust and Age Unlimited. The fund is supporting the fantastic work being done at the Hammersmith Hospital and Imperial College under Dr Harpreet Wasan. Thus far, over £400,000 has been raised and has enabled the Hammersmith to set up a specific unit to investigate why pancreatic cancer does not respond to traditional treatments. Panc
reatic cancer kills 7,000 people in the UK every year and, to the vast majority, it is a death sentence. The one chance of recovery is if the doctors are able to operate but this is only possible in 10-20% of cases. Even then, 80-90% of these patients will relapse and die within 5 years. Over the last decade doctors have hit a brickwall as no new treatments have improved patients overall survival. Indeed doctors are still using the same treatment that was established 13 years ago. Pancreatic cancer has now moved into the bottom of the league tables in terms of progress in treating individual cancers. This fact is even more shocking as only 1% of cancer research has ultimately focused on the pancreas. Age Unlimited
Age Unlimited provides support for the two most marginalised groups in the UK: young people growing up with no prospects, and the very elderly who have lost any hope that they will be treated with dignity during their remaining years. In the UK, thousands in both these groups feel they have been given no chance to improve the quality of their lives. Age Unlimited is focused on changing this through the funding of courses for the young and the provision of annuities for the elderly to help with essentials that have frequently become too expensive. Currently in the UK there are 1.3million people aged between 16 and 25 who are not in education, employment or training. They often have to deal with issues that have arisen through dysfunctional starts in life, whether within the home or at school and many have to improve their own attitudes before they can begin to engage with society. Each young person who turns their life around benefits not just themselves but also their community, family and friends and even the next generation with a more positive outlook and greater understanding. It is a similar situation for the over 80s in this country. Having contributed to their communities when younger, many receive little help when it is most needed. Age Unlimited aims to replace some of the funding that these elderly people have seen reduced due to the current economic climate, helping to give them peace of mind, security and a sense of worth.
