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Sir Bobby Robson cancer research centre approved

Daniel HollandLocal Democracy Reporting Service
News imageNewcastle Hospitals An artists impression of what the Sir Bobby Robson Institute will look like. It is a large, building with a gold heptagon design on the outside in front of the many windows. There are computer-generated people around the entrance of the building, with many bushes and trees around.Newcastle Hospitals
Construction on the new centre will begin early next year

A £30m centre for cancer research and treatment has been given the green light.

Newcastle City Council has approved plans for the new Sir Bobby Robson Institute at the Freeman Hospital, which is hoped will become a world-leading facility.

The centre will bring together the existing Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, which was opened by the former Newcastle United manager just months before his death in 2009, and the Freeman's cancer and blood disorders research team.

Construction will start early next year and the purpose-built trials facility should be open in 2028.

Sir Bobby was diagnosed with cancer on a number of occasions throughout his life and launched his foundation in 2008, with the initial aim to raise £500,000 to equip a new cancer drug trials centre at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care.

Supporters of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, part of Newcastle Hospitals Charity, have already raised £20m for the development and a fundraising campaign is being launched to secure the remaining £10m.

News imageThe Sir Bobby Robson Foundation Sir Bobby speaking into a microphone and looking to the left. He is wearing a grey suit with a pink tie and blue shirt. To the right of him is a woman with short brown hair. To the left is a crowd of people which includes Alan Shearer and Fabio Capello who are both wearing suits and smiling. Hospital staff are behind them in red uniforms. The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation
Sir Bobby opened the original centre in 2009, just months before his death

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, councillors heard that the foundation's existing centre had already contributed to the evolution of cancer treatment, but had outgrown its current space and had been forced to reject some research programmes as a result.

Hospital bosses said the new institute would provide "much-needed additional capacity" to increase the number of clinical trials taking place in Newcastle by 50% over five years.

News imageNewcastle Hospitals An artist's impression of the inside of the centre. There is a large reception desk in the middle of a big, light, white room which two people in blue scrubs sitting and standing around it. Around the desk are multiple seating areas with blue and green armchairs. There are people milling around.Newcastle Hospitals
The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation is working to raise the final £10m needed to build the centre (artist's impression)

Professor Ruth Plummer, consultant medical oncologist at Newcastle Hospitals and director of the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, said: "More research trials will inevitably lead to better health outcomes and improve the treatment we are able to provide for cancer patients both now and in the future."

The three-storey facility will be built on a patch of land in the north-east corner of the Freeman Hospital site, next to the Coxlodge Wagonway which currently houses a small car park.

Teri Bayliss, director at Newcastle Hospitals Charity, said the new centre would be "the proud culmination of a phenomenal fundraising effort".

She added: "This project and the leadership behind it is inspired by Sir Bobby's dream for people in our region to have access to world-class cancer treatment."

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