Ed Dubois and his wife Honor have formed The Dubois Child Cancer Fund. This is because he approached his owners about how best to develop this important fund-raising aspect of the Dubois Cup regatta. His clients see it as being important for Ed to become personally involved and join the peer review group of the clinicians and doctors who decide where funds go: to which research programmes.
He raised £350,000 from just three clients in late 2010 for a specific research programme at Southampton Medical School that was running out of cash; it took just three phone calls and two meetings with three of his owners. Ed says that this direct approach with a known research programme that he understands and can describe is the way to go.
Ed goes on to say, “This will be a life-long thing for me and Honor and the aim is to do with Neuroblastoma what has been achieved with child Leukaemia, whereby 20 years ago Leukaemia victims had a 10% chance of survival, and now it is 90%.
“Only 35% of children with Neuroblastoma survive but, with the various research programmes underway, we believe that with enough funding, this rate can be greatly improved within 5 years.”