After a marathon 16 and a half hours collecting at Tesco Riverside last weekend Sir Philip Cohen was tired but elated to learn that he had collected £1009 for the new Diabetes Research Centre that will be built next to the Wellcome Trust Biocentre.
As reported last week Sir Philip Cohen and his wife, Professor (Lady) Tricia Cohen have matched the sum Sir Philip collected, while the other scientists collecting at the store last weekend raised a further £1995 between them, bringing the total for the weekend to £4012. This is nearly twice the amount raised during the first weekend before and brings the total for the first two weekends of the August long collection to £6125.
Sir Philip is inviting Dundee's wealthier citizens, local businesses and organisations to match his donation and have their names displayed as donors in the foyer of the new building. If you are interested in accepting this invitation or in making a donation of any other amount please email Sir Philip (p.cohen@dundee.ac.uk) or telephone him (01382-344238), Joan Concannon(01382 345565) or Angela Nicoll(01382 348377) weekdays
Commenting on the weekend's successful fund raising efforts, Sir Philip said "I continue to be astonished by the overwhelming generosity of the citizens of Dundee. To have collected more than £1000 means that more than £1 was donated every minute of the 16.5 hours that I was collecting. About one in every ten people who donated money told me they are diabetic or that they have a relative with diabetes. This highlights the prevalence of the disease which is reaching epidemic proportions in the UK, and the urgency of our campaign."
The new research centre will also provide a significant boost to employment in Dundee with 200 new jobs generated directly (70 in the area of diabetes research) and a further 400 expected to be created indirectly.
Next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 15-17 August, the citizens of Perth will have their first opportunity to make personal contributions to the project, when collections will take place at Tesco, Edinburgh Road, Perth. Collections will also continue at Tesco, Riverside, Dundee. Sir Philip will be collecting in Perth from 3-7 pm on Friday August 15th and both he and Lady Cohen will be there between 1 and 4 pmon Sunday August 17th. Professor Dario Alessi will be on duty in Perth from 3-6 pm on Saturday August 16th and from 4-7 pm on Sunday the 17th.
By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk