Cancer Research Wales comes to Caerphilly

Caerphilly shoppers are being invited to the opening of Cancer Research Wales's new store in the town on Saturday 29 August.

Cancer Research Wales' friendly mascot, Stripe the Dragon, is cutting the ribbon at the Welsh cancer research charity's shop in Unit 24A of the Castle Court Shopping Centre at 10.00am.

It's a return to Castle Court for the charity, which first opened a shop in the centre in 2009.

It will be decorated in the charity's distinctive coloured stripe branding logo which is inspired by DNA sequencing gels used by scientists to find cancer cells.

Cancer Research Wales is an independent Welsh cancer research charity founded in 1966 and is not connected to any other cancer research charities.

The store will sell pre-loved quality goods including women's, children's and men's clothing, a range of household items and bric-a-brac.

The shop will be open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, and Sundays from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The charity is asking the people of Caerphilly to support its life-changing work by donating their pre-loved goods, shopping with it and volunteering their time.

Lorraine Boyd, Head of Retail at Cancer Research Wales said:

"I'm excited to be opening our new shop in Caerphilly, and to be returning to Castle Court. We're also looking for volunteers to join the team, and you'll be helping fund research right here in Wales.

Cancer Research Wales is the only charity wholly dedicated to funding research into cancer in Wales and we invest all our research funding in Wales, so please come along and support us by shopping, donating your pre-loved goods and volunteering with us in Caerphilly."

Adam Fletcher, Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Research Wales, said:

"In our 60th year we've announced our largest ever funding package of £2.86 million for 20 new projects, several of them here in South Wales.

The need for support has never been greater. Every item bought and donated in Caerphilly helps us push the boundaries of cancer research here in Wales, so please come along and help unite Wales against cancer."

Some of the projects funded by Cancer Research Wales in South Wales:

Prostate cancer

Dr Paddy Slator at Cardiff University has received £110,000 to develop a new way of assessing prostate tumours using diffusion-relaxation MRI at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, technology that is not available anywhere else in the world. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in Wales, with 2,500 cases diagnosed and 600 deaths every year, and the project aims to give patients safer, faster and more reliable results.

Gynaecological cancers

Dr Sioned Owen at the University of South Wales has been awarded £40,000 to develop new treatment options for gynaecological cancers, which have some of the poorest survival rates in the UK. It is the first time Cancer Research Wales has funded research at the University of South Wales.

Brain tumour research

13 projects at Cardiff University and Swansea University have received more than £1.76 million from Cancer Research Wales's Brain Tumour Research Initiative, set up in 2024 to establish Wales as a world leader in brain tumour research.