Uniphar & Friends of Cross Present €110,000 Donation to Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute

Posted on: 24 November 2022

Professor John Reynolds, Professor of Surgery and Head of Department at Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital Dublin; Paul Wallace, Patron Friends of Cross; Maurice Pratt, Chairman Uniphar PLC; and Dr Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity College Dublin

A joint fundraising initiative between Uniphar plc and cancer charity Friends of Cross was marked at Trinity College Dublin with the handover of a cheque amounting to €110,000 to the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute. Dr Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, who accepted the cheque on behalf of the Institute, said it was a wonderful act of generosity and would greatly assist the important ground-breaking cancer research ongoing at the Trinity St James’s campus.  

The Chairman of Uniphar, Maurice Pratt and former Ireland rugby legend and Friends of Cross patron, Paul Wallace, were on hand to jointly carry out the official cheque handover to Provost Linda Doyle, which took place on 23rd November beneath the historic Trinity Campanile on the College’s front square.  

The monies raised came from the Uniphar plc  ‘Unity for Hope’ campaign which was supported by the company’s 2,900 staff members globally, with matched funding by Uniphar plc and from supporters of the Friends of Cross, all of whom ran novel fundraising campaigns throughout the 20-month pandemic lockdown period.

The total amount raised came to €110,000 and will go towards continued support of life-saving cancer research at the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital.

Friends of CROSS has helped raise over €1 million for the cancer research charity over the past 12 years, which directly supports the education and training of students in their careers as young researchers. The funds also contribute to the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment, used by over 60 researchers in Ireland working across several cancer types including oesophageal cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer.

Dr Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, said “This is a wonderful moment for Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute who are once again benefitting from the magnificent support of Uniphar and Friends of Cross. Despite being curtailed from traditional fundraising during the pandemic period, our enlightened and committed donors never lost their resolve and found new and innovative ways to maintain support for the important research work being done at this Institute. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the amazing work done not just this year, but down through many years and I extend heartfelt thanks to both Uniphar plc and Friends of Cross.” 

The Chairman of Uniphar, Maurice Pratt, said “It is a great honour to present this significant donation to Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute after such a lengthy gap due to the Covid pandemic. Uniphar plc has over 2,900 staff globally, and each person participated in our ‘Unity for Hope’ cancer charity campaign by running micro fundraising initiatives from their homes and office spaces during the pandemic. The money they raised was then matched by Uniphar plc and a very welcome additional contribution was also made by the Friends of Cross. We are delighted to be finally handing the final cheque here today to the wonderful team at the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute”

Friends of Cross Chairman, Aidan Murphy, said “We were delighted to partner with Uniphar’s ‘Unity for Hope’ campaign and to be able to let  our loyal supporters continue generating much-needed financial assistance for the important cancer research carried out by the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute. Cancer is a disease that does not stop even for a pandemic, so we refused to let the pandemic stop our resolve to keep this life-changing research going. Friends of Cross has generated over €1 million for TSJCI over the past 12 years and we are delighted to be adding to that total yet again today”

Professor of Surgery and Head of Department at Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital Dublin, John Reynolds said “I am so proud of the great work that has been done by both Uniphar’s ‘Unity for Hope’ and all at Friends of CROSS to support cancer research in Ireland. This money will make a real impact on our continued efforts to prevent, understand and treat various forms of cancer here in Ireland”

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