Pictured left to right: Ruth Morgan, senior scientific officer, CRUK Clinical Centre, St. James Hospital, with Charles Tweed, STG business development director and Sally Watson, CRUK.

Castleford based building contractors, Strategic Team Group, today announces that it is donating £22,000 to Cancer Research UK following 12 months of fundraising activity, which included a gala dinner, raffles, bake days and sponsored runs.

The company, which specialises in the construction, refurbishment and maintenance in both the public and private sector, adopted Cancer Research UK as its preferred charity for the 2006/2007 financial year. Initially setting a goal of £20,000, the company organised a charity gala dinner and business awards at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, which were hosted by BBC Look North presenter, Christa Ackroyd.

The cash boost will contribute towards ground-breaking research carried out to improve understanding of cancer and how best to prevent, diagnose and treat different forms of the disease at the Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre, at St James's University Hospital in Leeds. In partnership with the NHS and the University of Leeds, the centre brings together leading doctors and scientists, who are working to develop new treatments for a wide range of cancers, including bladder and kidney cancers, lymphoma and skin cancer, melanoma. Cancer Research UK currently spends over £5million each year in Leeds on pioneering research.

Commenting on the donation, Charles Tweed, Strategic Team Group business development director said:

"We are delighted to be supporting a charity which is dedicated to carrying out world class research to understand, prevent and treat cancer. We can all confidentially say that we know someone, whether they are a close family member or a work colleague, who has been effected by cancer, which makes the need to support Cancer Research UK all the more real.

"As a business, we remain committed to supporting charities which are dedicated to the prevention and treatment of life threatening illnesses."

Sally Watson, Area Volunteer Manager, Cancer Research UK added: "We are extremely grateful to Charles and the team at Strategic for raising such a fantastic amount of money to support our work. It is only thanks to donations such as this and support we receive from others in the area that we are able to continue with our life-saving research."