23 April 2009

Sturrock singers raise £1700 for Diabetes Research

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY - 1pm, Friday April 24th,
Strathmore Diabetes Centre,
Ninewells Hospital & Medical School
Professor Morris will accept the cheque from Elizabeth Sturrock

A Dundee singing group who gave their last concert this week after fifteen years together have raised £1700 for the University of Dundee’s Diabetes Research Campaign.

The Liz Sturrock Singers gave their farewell concert on Tuesday night (April 21st) in Trinity Parish Church in Dundee, bringing down the curtain on a decade-and-a-half of singing around the city.

They decided their last concert would help raise funds for the University’s fundraising campaign, which is hoping to raise £3million towards state of the art diabetes research and patient care facilities across Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross, adding to the world-class diabetes research programmes which are already well-established through the University and NHS Tayside.

'I have been diabetic myself for the past 30 years and over that time I have been extremely grateful for the tremendous treatment and care I have received from clinicians involved in diabetes,' said Elizabeth Sturrock.

'I really think they do fantastic work so it is great that we can do something to help them.'

The diabetes research campaign has already raised more than £2million towards the ultimate target, which will enable the University to create a Type 1 diabetes research team of the same standards as the internationally recognised expertise Dundee has in Type 2 diabetes.

'The public throughout Tayside and Fife have always been extremely supportive of our efforts in diabetes research and we are very grateful to them for everything they do,' said Professor Morris.

'I attended the farewell concert of the Liz Sturrock Singers and we had a great night. It is tremendous that through that they have also been able to make this very generous gesture towards our campaign.'

Diabetes is now the fastest growing epidemic in the developed world. It is estimated that more than 300 million people worldwide will suffer from the disease by 2020 and the disease has been recognised by the United Nations as the greatest threat to world health.

It is estimated that the NHS is spending £1m an hour, 10% of its yearly budget, treating diabetes and its complications.

In Tayside there has been a 90% increase in the incidence of diabetes in the last 10 years and the need to develop clinical research facilities across Tayside is urgent. The Diabetes Research Campaign aims to provide the facilities and technology to enable scientists and doctors to work together to develop better and more effective treatments and to devise preventative strategies for the disease.

For more information on the campaign see: www.dundee.ac.uk/externalrelations/funds/drc/about/.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk