Caroline's Blog

Behind every successful man there's a great woman or so they say.

Having met with Gordon Brown again last week, I  found myself at a Downing Street event last night with his wife Sarah.

She gave a brilliant and moving presentation about achievements in cancer care and treatment and her own experiences when working in a hospice.

There were many senior people in cancer services, cancer charities and research at the event, joined by celebrities, as well as Andy Burnham the health secretary.

But also, importantly, there were patients with emotional but triumphant stories. I bumped into John Hartson, the former Arsenal and Celtic player who had testicular cancer. He's now known for his TV work as a sports commentator but was truly inspiring during our chat.

I'm in London again today for a NHS Leadership day. Health bosses from across the country were selected to attend as part of a programme to ensure outstanding leadership in the NHS.

We always need to take one key learning point away from any event like this; manage a little less and lead a little more.

So, I've met some amazing and interesting people over the last two days. But when I go home and tell my five year old daughter Bella about them, I know she'll only be impressed by one. Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud.

That's children for you. But I keep telling her that behind every successful daughter is a great mum!

Over 1000 special guests - ranging from local dignitaries and NHS leaders to members and fundraisers have visited our new radiotherapy centre in Oldham as part of our opening programme. But we had an especially high-profile visitor yesterday.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown toured the new facility which he described as "leading the way in health care", giving staff and patients a great boost.

There was a really relaxed, positive and warm atmosphere as the Prime Minister chatted with everyone. Perhaps because he visited our main site less than a year ago and has taken a special interest in the Christie and our developments.

There's such pride in this new centre and a strong sense of everyone having played a part in making it happen.

The generosity of fundraisers and donors ensured we were able to build it, and the support of NHS organistions means we can deliver the cancer treatments here.

That's why I'm taking up another fundraising challenge. Doing my bit alongside the amazing fundraising efforts that take place everyday for our cancer patients.

Despite a terrible fear of heights I'm braving a Sky Dive on 22nd May - dropping 12,000ft with speeds up to 120mph.

I will be joined by three leading business women - Sharon Fraser, Partner and Head of Regions audit at Deloitte, Elaine Birchall, chief executive of PZ Cussons UK and Jo McCarthy, head of finance at Sabre Europe - who have kindly chosen to raise money in support of The Christie.

If you'd like to sponsor me 'going over the edge' then please go to  www.justgiving.com/fearlessfoursome 

From a high-profile visit to a highly-terrifying challenge. Just part of this wonderful job for our wonderful patients. 

That’s the official verdict of the people of Oldham after the preview week at our new radiotherapy centre.

We had a packed week of tours and were bowled over by the fantastic support of the local people.  There were also tours for senior NHS and business leaders, local dignitaries, GPs and staff from the Royal Oldham Hospital where we are based, MPs and other key groups.  As well as a full day of tours for our members and fundraisers. We were only able to build this £17m centre through charity funding so we are truly indebted to our fundraisers and donors.

To add a bit of excitement, two fantastic students broke the world record for the longest hug in Oldham to promote the new centre.  Faisal and Mohammed stood hugging for 24 hours and 17 minutes, standing the entire time, to put themselves in the record books.  Their endurance was amazing and has been promoted across the world.

And Vincent Kompany, the Man City defender also visited our centre to meet some patients and have a look around. He spoke movingly about losing his mother to cancer just 2 ½ years ago, at exactly the same time his sister was battling the disease.  His sister luckily survived but it was emotional for everyone to hear his story and be reminded how cancer impacts on and affects so many people.

So it was a busy week playing hostess to many different people, all finished off with our Ladies Lunch on Friday – a big fundraising event based on Loose Women with Jenny Murray, Sue Perkins and Sally Lindsay providing the brilliant entertainment.  With over 300 women attending, sisters were doing it for themselves, with comedian Craig Cash as the token male to liven things up (and coping well with us all!).

From the warmth of Oldham to the wit of our ‘Loose Women’.  A second home and a sensational lunch.

We've turned tour guide this week to proudly show people our new second home.

Our new radiotherapy centre in Oldham opens for its first patient on Tuesday 16th March, and we're running a whole week of special preview tours.

It kicked off yesterday with some very special VIP visits. This included the Mayor of Oldham and other local dignitaries, and Board members of NHS Oldham who have helped bring our idea to reality.

It was great hearing their feedback on this impressive centre, and I felt so proud that after 3 1/2 years of planning and preparing we are now ready to open this fantastic facility.

This will be the first network of its kind in the UK, but most importantly make a real difference to local cancer patients.

We've got many more special guests this week who I look forward to meeting.

A momentous and meaningful second home that we are delighted to show off.