Asbestos disease victims mark 30 years of fighting for sufferers & their families.
The Merseyside Asbestos Victims Support Group charity held their 30th Anniversary last Friday in Liverpool where members and supporters celebrated the milestone with a presentation to Professor Judy Coulson of Liverpool University with a cheque for £2,540 raised to help fund her Mesothelioma hen’s egg research* into finding improved treatment for the condition which is a fatal cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos.
Professor Judy Coulson with John Flanagan MAVSG
Professor Coulson said, “I was delighted to accept the donation raised by patients with this insidious disease”. She added “In these days of austerity in all walks of life this fantastic contribution to our research is greatly appreciated”.
The registered charity provides help and support for patients and their families across Merseyside providing welfare benefit advice, monthly gatherings for patients to meet one another and learn more about how to cope with the condition.
MAVS staff and family members of the late Eddie Loyden MP for Garston. L to R. Karen Ball-MAVS, Karen Smith Daughter, John Donnelly Grandson, Paula Donnelly Granddaughter in law, John Flanagan-MAVS
Group Members paying tribute to the late Bob Dickie of the Clydebank Asbestos Victims Support Group. L to R. Colette Jennings, Sophie Milne, Karen Ball, Alison Davenport
John Flanagan, Support Officer for the group said “While we are delighted to continue to serve and help patients in Merseyside I am mindful that the first Groups were set up in 1969 in Glasgow, another hot spot like Merseyside for mesothelioma, and we are still seeing more patients each year with all the asbestos related conditions of mesothelioma, asbestos related lung cancer, asbestosis, asbestos related pleural thickening and pleural plaques. He added “We wanted to pay tribute to the Late Bob Dickie of the Glasgow Group who assisted us in our formation all those years ago together with the late Eddie Loyden who was MP for Garston in 1993 who helped in our formation. We also thanked Peter Kilfoyle former MP for Walton who helped us set up the All-Party Parliamentary Panel on Asbestos which still meets today.
*Developing a hen’s egg model to aid in development of personalised therapies for malignant pleural mesothelioma
Mesothelioma Statistics for Great Britain, 2023
https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/mesothelioma/mesothelioma.pdf
Photos provided by Chris Ingram of unionsafety.eu
EDITORS NOTES. Please contact John Flanagan on 0151 236 1895 for further information.