Charity Partnership : RAFT & The Lindsay Leg Club Foundation

RAFT is delighted to have formed a Charity Partnership with the Lindsay Leg Club Foundation.

The Lindsay Leg Club Foundation was set up in 1995 by Ellie Lindsay, a district nurse in Suffolk, who knew that social factors and isolation could significantly affect leg ulcer patients’ response to treatment. Ellie introduced the concept of community-based leg ulcer care, which has grown into a network of evidence-based leg ulcer clinics, known as Leg Clubs.

Leg Clubs provide community-based treatment, health promotion, education and ongoing care for people of all ages who are experiencing leg-related problems.

RAFT and the Lindsay Leg Club Foundation share the same aim - to provide a better quality of life for patients with leg ulcers. RAFT’s surgeons and scientists are hoping to take its Smart Matrix artificial skin scaffold to patient trial, for a ‘clean’ wound, by the end of 2011. The team is also working to adapt the current model in order that it may be used to treat chronic wounds, such as leg ulcers. Speed is of the essence as any open wound is highly susceptible to infection, which creates further problems.

Amanda Bailey

Charity Partnerships

RAFT is honoured and delighted to have formed charity partnerships with two other charities – The Douglas Bader Foundation and The Lindsay Leg Club Foundation.  Patient need has always been, and will always be, crucial when selecting our research projects.  Working with other charities allows us to improve our understanding of the complexities of traumas to the skin, both from the patient and healthcare point of view.  Together, we hope to get improved treatment to patients in the quickest possible time.

Amanda Bailey

Life as a Scientist

Since starting as a recent graduate at RAFT, I have learnt that it is, to say the least, incredibly frustrating. It involves a lot of forehead slapping, and exclamations of ‘Why God, Why?’ Even though you’re not entirely sure if god exists, this seems the perfect opportunity to appeal to a higher power.

Some people think that science is about spending large amounts of time holed up in a tiny corner of a sterile white lab, in a white lab coat mixing chemicals of bright colours which do exciting things like change colour, bubble, fizz and explode. Other people think of little old bespectacled men with wild white hair, who speak to themselves and secretly plot world domination. I can’t say with total honesty that we don’t have our fair share of accidentally blowing things up and setting other things alight, and I have to admit that during my lunch breaks I often find myself day dreaming about being Queen of the world. But there is much more to it than that.  

Given the nature of the research conducted at RAFT, much of the work is done on cells. The fantastic thing about cells is that they are ridiculously resilient; they will survive being removed from tissue using harsh enzymes, being frozen down, starved and irradiated. But then one day you might realise that they have all died. For no particular reason at all, but then again it could be worse, you may culture them for a week, and looking down the microscope, find that they don’t really look like human cells, in fact they don’t look like any cells you’ve ever seen (yes, this has happened). When you finally give up trying to figure out what the hell is going on, its time to beat a tactical retreat to the kitchen, for a coffee break.

One thing I learnt quite early on is that the research department is fuelled by coffee, and there is nothing worse than when the coffee runs out. Even the stale stuff that sat in the corner and stopped resembling anything organic a while back. The coffee I assure you is absolutely pivotal to scientific research.

Some experiments can take up to twelve hours to set up and observe. You may turn up diligently at oh nine hundred hours sharp, but it will take you another hour to locate all the various chemicals. Then calculations must be done to figure out how much of x or y you are going to need. Then comes the weighing and measuring. There will also be some chemicals that will flat out refuse to dissolve. By the time everything is ready, half the day has gone, and its already one o’clock. After running to the canteen for something that vaguely resembles something you would call ‘food’, its time to start. In my experience, experiments work out only about half the time, and in the words of Dr Julian Dye (Head of the Wound Healing Research Department) ‘If an experiment works out first time, you’ve probably done something wrong’.

One of the most frustrating tasks has to be to figure out how to make a new machine work, using nothing but a user manual spanning three thousand pages, and let me tell you right now, this is one thing Google definitely can’t help you with. There will be much head scratching, page flicking, staring into space, then staring at the machine, hoping the power of you mind alone will make the machine work. Failing all these things, you could always take to pressing random buttons, which could however cause a random component to come hurtling towards your head (I refuse to accept that there is no excitement in science).  It will actually take you on average two hours to work out how to get the sample loading station to move up and down.

I actually stumbled into science, its possibly the best thing to have happened to me. There was no miraculous sign, or great booming voice in my head, but having become a scientist, I find myself working with people who’s intelligence astounds me every day. People who not only get, but appreciate my geeky jokes. Every day is a challenge, and you have to be creative and think on your feet, but then even if the worst comes to pass, there is an office full of people who are willing to take the time to offer you advice and guidance. I love my job. It has me jumping out of bed in the morning. I get to conduct experiments never done before, meet people who are doing ground breaking research. The best thing about Science is there is no such thing as failure. If an experiment doesn’t work, you’ve still learnt something new. And even after millennia of research, there is still so much to learn!

Niro Ragunathan

Research Assistant at RAFT

Meet the RAFTers: Sam Laidlaw

At RAFT we are lucky to have Trustees who have the expertise and experience to make us even better at delivering research to patients.  One of these is a name that is familiar to many as the head of one of the UK’s largest gas companies - Centrica plc - but his charity work is not so well known.

Sam became an early supporter of RAFT (when he was Chief Executive of Amerada Hess) after attending a RAFT reception at 11 Downing Street. With a long career in the oil and gas industry where burn injuries are a potential hazard, his ability to attract support for our work is remarkable.

His support and praise of RAFT is humbling and appreciated.

“I am a passionate supporter of RAFT as I have seen first hand how the dedication of a special group of people has transformed the lives of so many.”

Better alternative to skin grafts

RAFT’s Smart Matrix™ has the potential to become the new standard-of-care in the treatment of a variety of full thickness, life-threatening skin wounds.

Skin, the largest organ in the body, can suffer wounds that are difficult to treat and heal. Burns and skin ulcerations in particular can challenge any doctor and can easily lead to premature death. Although the outer layer of the skin (epidermis) can respond to treatment, the tough, thick inner layer of skin (dermis) does not reform during the healing of a full thickness wound.

“When a burn or chronic wound such as a leg ulcer severely damages skin, the body can never regenerate full thickness skin,” says Dr Julian Dye, RAFT group leader and Smart Matrix™ project leader. If the patient recovers, they are most times left with disfiguring scares which can impede body movement.

In addition, due to the amount of burns someone suffers, there might not be enough undamaged skin left for grafts or the poor health of the patient might forbid taking skin grafts. “For some patients, conventional grafts also come with the risk of simply creating a new wound site elsewhere on the body which cannot heal completely,” says Dr Dye.

But even in the healthiest of patients, removing of skin for grafts can easily lead to infection and is extremely painful.

London firefighter Richard Richards, who suffered severe burns while fighting a house fire, described the pain of having undamaged skin removed for grafts this way. “Go back to your childhood and remember the most painful skin scrap you ever had. Now multiply that pain by about a billion times.”

However, there may soon be a better alternative which will increase the survivability of patients.

Smart Matrix™ is an artificial skin scaffold which encourages rapid growth of blood capillaries when placed into a wound bed in the dermis. Much like how a scaffold supports the work around a home’s roof repairs, Smart Matrix™ also provides a scaffold, giving the body something to regenerate new skin around.

During the wound healing process, Smart Matrix™ attracts cells into the matrix and promotes growth of blood capillaries which is critical for the wound healing process. The scaffold is completely reabsorbed by the body within three weeks, by which time wound healing should have occurred.

All tests so far have been extremely encouraging and clinical trials should take place this year.

RAFT is a finalist for Work Placement of the Year in the Charitable Sector

RAFT has just found out that it is a finalist for this year’s National Council for Work Experience (NCWE) Awards for 2012 in the Charitable Sector category.

After receiving a record-breaking number of entries, finalists were announced this week, with winners announced at the NCWE Awards Final held in March. Win or lose, this is an extremely prestigious honour for RAFT considering other charities in the sector include CRUK, Barnardos and British Red Cross.

Finalists are chosen because they can prove that they add value to their work experience programmed and show students, placement tutors and other employers that they have been recognised for their high-quality work experience opportunities. They will also provide a shining example for others to follow of what real work experience should be.

Twenty-year old Kwame Asiedu from Queen Mary University was one of last year’s summer placements.

“With some placements you spend your day making coffee and running a copier,” says Kwame. “But RAFT was different. Everything you do here benefits RAFT, even if experiments go wrong, there is a benefit.”

Niroshehaa Ragunathan started as a summer placement and now works at RAFT alongside the Smart Matrix™ team.

“The most amazing thing about working with such a small group is the atmosphere; people here at RAFT are so intelligent, hard working and passionate about what they do,” she says.

NCWE says that work experience underpins and contributes to career, skills and development choices, which link to work-force development.

Clay Pigeon Shoot 2012

RAFT will be holding its 15^th Charity Clay Pigeon Shoot on Wednesday 20^th June this year at the Holland & Holland Shooting Ground in West London. 

We hope to beat last year’s fundraiser and raise £100k+ in aid of RAFT’s research into the treatment of severe burns and chronic wounds and if you want to enter a team and help us achieve that,  contact Event Organiser Christine Miles on 01923 844371 or email her at miles@raft.ac.uk.

Raising money the easy way

I love using easyfundraising.  I can do all my online shopping and raise money for RAFT at the same time - all without it costing me anything extra.  

It is such a great idea that I asked Becky from easyfundraising to explain how it works

Who or what is easyfundraising? Everything you ever wanted to know…

You may already know that RAFT raises money via easyfundraising.org.uk but you might have wondered what’s it’s all about. Raising money just by shopping as normal? How does it work?

It’s only natural that when you put your trust in someone, you want to know as much about them as possible so here’s a run-down of everything you ever wanted to know about easyfundraising:

1.       easyfundraising are Ian, Tracey W, Gary, David, Phil, Chris, Mark, Becky, Nicola, Stuart, Paula, Jannine, Dennis, Izzi, Fay and Pam.

2.       easyfundraising was started in 2003 by Ian who came up with the idea while recovering from a serious illness.  He says, “While I was ill, I was helped by a number of charities and was struck by how many of them were struggling to make ends meet. I realised that fundraising can be incredibly difficult for charities and not for profit groups so I created easyfundraising to help causes help themselves. It’s been a labour of love but well worth it when I see the difference easyfundraising makes.”

3.       Here’s how it works: when you use the easyfundraising site to visit online retailers, then make a purchase, the retailer will pass a percentage of what you spend to RAFT at no additional cost to you.

4.       It’s totally free to use and your shopping won’t cost you a penny more but you will raise funds for RAFT.

5.       We work with over 2000 well known retailers including Boden, M&S, Argos, Vodafone and many more. Each one will pass a donation to RAFT when you shop with them via easyfundraising.

6.       We’ve raised over £3 million for good causes across the UK so far, including £1m last year alone.

7.       You can even use easyfundraising to raise money without spending anything – many retailers will pay donations just for trialling their service and others will pay donations if you switch an existing service to them, such as credit cards or phone & broadband services.

8.       We’re a real family company, with Ian’s wife, mother in law and sister in law all involved.

9.       We are passionate about fundraising. Tracey, Becky, Nicola and Pam ran the Race for Life for Cancer Research and raised over £500. Ian, Becky and Tracey all volunteer at a homeless shelter at Christmas and Gary is running a half marathon for charity in 2012. Plus, we each support a cause of our own, from our children’s schools to cricket clubs.

10.   We’ve just created a reminder tool call Find & Remind which reminds you to login to easyfundraising every time you shop online, to make sure RAFT doesn’t miss out on any valuable donations

11.   You can also raise funds for RAFT just by searching the web with our search engine, easysearch. By switching from Google to easysearch, you raise half a penny with every search you make. An average easysearcher raises around £25 for their cause each year!  http://raft.easysearch.org.uk/

12.   We’ve helped RAFT raise £164 to date – and looking forward to helping raise lots more in 2012!

To raise funds for RAFT, go to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/raft

Becky Coleman, Partnerships Manager,www.easyfundraising.org.uk

Has Santa been yet?

No, that wasn’t the first thought when I woke up on Christmas Day. It was in fact, “I’m going to go for a run!” Marathon training really does do crazy things to people, but I thought that if I went for a run, just a little one, I might be able to eat a few more pigs in blankets.  So, I put my Santa hat on and off I went. Round the lake, seeing only 3 other runners during my 4.5 miles.

After completing the London Marathon in 2011 with my Dad, taking on two in a week (London and Paris) is surely going to push me harder and definitely test me. All the hours and miles are adding up as we enter the beginning of the year. January is almost over now, and only 3 months to go until the Paris Marathon. One of my biggest worries is the heat. April is a funny month, you never know what the weather will be like, last year we ran in the scorching heat of 22 degrees in the streets of London. Which is a shock to the body after training all winter.

Raising money for the second time round makes it tougher to get people to donate. Especially when most of your friends are poor students. Which is the reason why my cousin and I are organising a fundraising event at our local cricket club in February. The whole idea is to give something back to those who have supported my family and I over the past 2 years. It will be a great opportunity to get everyone together, have fun and let people know why we are doing it and who we are doing it for! Fingers crossed the night is a great success and we raise lots of money!

Training is going well so far, 13 miles is now a comfortable distance. Being able to train with one of my best friends Beth, makes the running so much more relaxed and enjoyable. A huge difference compared to last years training in one of the worst winters up in Newcastle, many long, cold, night-time runs on my own was not the best way to get yourself motivated.

Since I started running with my Mum, Dad and our dog Eli in the park in my younger years I have always enjoyed it as a way of keeping fit and getting out of the house. Even though you go through so much pain, develop injuries, aches and twinges, and not forgetting the biggest blisters known to man… I still enjoy running. And I’m not sure why?

All I know is, that since my Aunty Laila  died 2 years ago it has given me some sort of boost. It made me realise that life really is too short. You need to make opportunities for yourself and take every one that presents itself to you. Raising money for a fantastic charity like RAFT and getting everyone you know involved is a great feeling. Running marathons is just a small thing that I can do to help generate and raise funds that will change lives. The pain my Aunty went through when she was battling with skin cancer is a far cry from my feet telling me to stop running at my 18 mile wall. When it comes to it, I wouldn’t be where I was today, living this hectic student life with marathons to train for, if it wasn’t for the inspiration and drive from my Aunty Laila.

Sarah Bull