News

Full Monty

(4 December 2003)

Medical students from the University of Durham will be performing the Full Monty as part of a night of fundraising for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

The event organised by Durham Marrow, a student branch of the Anthony Nolan Trust aims to raise over £1,000 during the academic year through a variety of initiatives.

The event will see teams of 1st and 2nd Year Medics battling it out to impress the crowds with their Full Monty routines. For the first time, this year’s event will see two 1st and 2nd year female teams taking part performing a cabaret style dance. Each team has been given the same music, a set of costumes and have been asked to perfect a ‘Full Monty’ style performance.

They have been practising hard between lectures to bring their acts up to scratch and will be put to the test on Friday 12 December in the student social centre, the Rocket Union. The winners will be chosen by guest judges, which include the Mayor of Stockton, Councillor Ann Cains, with a little help from the audience!

Durham Marrow Co-ordinator Jennifer Scaife said:” It’s great fun with a serious message and helps to raise the profile of the Trust’s life-saving work. We are also busy training medical students to run our first donor registration clinic which will be up and running in the new year”.

Marrow groups operate in universities across the UK with the aim of offering every student the chance to join the stem cell register. The more people on the Register, the more likely it is that a suitable match can be found for everyone who needs a transplant. Those eligible to join the register must be between 18 and 40, in good health and weigh over 8st. Pregnant women or those with a child under 12 months cannot join. Volunteers will be asked to complete a form, give a simple blood sample and to make the commitment that if the time came, they would give their bone marrow to save a life. The cost of registering and testing a potential donor is £70 and currently the Trust carries this cost.

Anyone interested in supporting Durham Marrow by donating raffle prizes or providing sponsorship for the second Full Monty competition to be held on 12 December are asked to contact Durham Marrow Co-ordinator Jennifer Scaife on 07812-525556 or e-mail Jennifer.scaife@durham.ac.uk.

Photo Opportunity

Catch the medical students in action during rehearsals at the Rocket Union, Railway Terrace, Thornaby at 6 p.m. on Thursday 4 December. Please contact Rebecca Keay on 07761-784400 if you intend to come along.

Media Enquiries

Jan Cawood, Public Relations, University of Durham, 0191 3340018.

Notes to Editors

Medical students from the University of Durham have recently won a top award for their outstanding fundraising initiatives for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Durham Marrow were chosen out of the 25 Medical Schools in the UK which boast successful marrow groups for their innovative fundraising initiatives.

The students raised over £1,700 during their launch year and representatives recently attended the National Marrow AGM in Birmingham to pick up their award, share good practice and plan their campaign for this year.

4 December 2003