Yorkshire cancer charity launches appeal to help give people in Wakefield and beyond more Christmases together

Yorkshire Cancer Research is calling on people to support its 2025 Christmas appeal, For More Christmases Together, to help fund life-saving cancer research and innovative cancer services in Yorkshire. This festive season, the charity is highlighting how donations can help give people with cancer, and their families, more time and more precious moments together.

Yorkshire Cancer Research currently funds £75 million of pioneering research including 26 clinical trials, to find new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer in Yorkshire. Thanks to the generosity of supporters, the charity has been saving and extending lives for 100 years.

Christmas 2025 marks an important milestone for Wakefield-based Sara Williamson: it is 10 years since she was told she had breast cancer.

Sara said: “This Christmas is extra special because, on December 1, 2015, I received my breast cancer diagnosis. The statistics were against me, and I was told my chances of survival were low, but I am one of the lucky ones. It’s been 10 years living with that cancer diagnosis – all the more reason to celebrate with loved ones.”

Sara is a committed supporter of Yorkshire Cancer Research. After unfortunately experiencing heart failure twice during chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, she joined a cancer rehabilitation programme funded by the charity to build back her physical strength and support her mental health.

Sara is now a champion of the charity’s research-backed cancer exercise treatment programme Active Together, designed by Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre.

“I firmly believe I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for exercise. It’s incredible to hear about the expansion of Active Together across Yorkshire, including in Wakefield, and the thousands of people who have already benefitted.”

Inspired by the wellbeing benefits that fitness can bring, Sara formed ‘My Breast Cancer Support’ group in 2017, an activity-focused community for anyone living with breast cancer in Wakefield and West Yorkshire.

When asked about what she is looking forward to this Christmas, Sara said: “During the festive period, I enjoy hosting wreath-making workshops. Floristry is a practice I have immersed myself in before, during and after my cancer treatment. The process of foraging is incredibly satisfying, and the act of making is a form of mindfulness – a distraction from the side effects of living with cancer and the outside world.”

Sara concluded: “At Christmas, I love cooking with my mum and sister. It always brings me back to childhood. We plan and prepare meticulously, making canapes with my nephew, designing a Christmas tree-shaped cheese board, and we spend hours beforehand making homemade crafts and games. I’m a big kid at heart and knowing I’ve been given that time thanks to pioneering cancer research in Yorkshire makes it truly magical.”

Dr Kathryn Scott, Chief Executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “This Christmas, there will be 222,000 people in Yorkshire who are living with cancer, or have been previously diagnosed with cancer. [1] Too many families and friends in Yorkshire are facing uncertainty and worry. Through ground-breaking clinical trials and research, like the IMProVE trial, the charity is working with cancer experts across the region to find new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. By supporting this year’s Christmas appeal, people can help this vital work continue, leading to breakthroughs that can help keep loved ones together, for longer.”

To help give people in Yorkshire more Christmases together visit: www.YorkshireCancerResearch/Christmases