Public Open Day celebrates new home for cancer research in Manchester

Celebrate the opening of the new MCRC building with us at our free Public Open Day on Saturday 20 June.

This will be a unique chance to tour the building, meet our world class scientists and get hands on with science. The day will be packed full of interactive activities, including smartphone microscopes, giant ‘hurricane tubes’ and a pipetting challenge. You’ll be able to go behind-the-scenes in our laboratories, conduct your own experiments and learn about the pioneering research that’s taking place right here in Manchester.

There will also be a programme of inspiring talks, at which you’ll discover the truth about drug discovery and learn how proton beam therapy could revolutionise cancer treatment.

The day is free to attend and is suitable for adults and children alike - families and individuals will be equally welcome. The talks and lab tours will be pitched at a ‘lay’ level and our experts will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

For more information and to register for lab tours please visitmcrc.manchester.ac.uk/open-day

Find out more about More Tomorrows and how you can get involved with fundraising for the new MCRC building here: www.moretomorrows.org

A newsletter from the Manchester Cancer Research Centre

Neighbourhood News

June 2015 | ISSUE 16

Find out more about the new cancer research building and the MCRC here:www.mcrc.manchester.ac.uk/newbuild/

Welcome to Neighbourhood NewsWelcome to the sixteenth issue of Neighbourhood News - a newsletter from the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) to keep our neighbours up to date with developments and news from the MCRC and the new cancer research building for MCRC scientists. This issue features details of special events being held this June to mark the completion of the MCRC research building.

Inside this issue Public Open Day celebrates new home for cancer research in Manchester

Maggie’s centre

S106 parking restrictions

Green travel update

Diversions and car parking changes

Residents’ drop in session

Integrated Procedures Unit

Proton Beam Therapy Centre

Looking back – progress in pictures

About the MCRC• The MCRC brings cancer scientists and doctors together on one site to help drive the development of personalised medicine, so that in future each patient gets the treatment that will work best for them.

• The new research building has been designed to facilitate collaboration between researchers to speed up the translation of laboratory discoveries into clinicaltrialsandultimatelypatientbenefit.

2

Maggie’s centre

Maggie’s, the charity that provides free practical, emotional and social support for people with cancer and their family and friends, has celebrated the start of construction work for a new centre on The Christie site.

To mark the occasion Laura Lee, Maggie’s Chief Executive, Roger Spencer, Chief Executive at The Christie, and principal donors to the new centres, Cathy Parfett and Norman Stoller, gathered under a 20-foot high timber frame which will form the main structure of the centre at The Christie, designed by Lord Norman Foster. A time capsule was also buried.

Every year 50,000 people are diagnosed with cancer across Greater Manchester, facingtoughquestions,exhaustingtreatmentanddifficultemotionsthatcanrangefromanxietytolonelinessandisolation.Thesechallengesaffectnotonly those with cancer, but their family and friends too. Working in partnership withTheChristie,thenewMaggie’scentrewillsignificantlyenhancethecancersupportalreadyofferedacrosstheregion.

Green travel updateThe Christie NHS Foundation Trust provides a number of ways staff can travel to and from work including:

• Cycle to work scheme • New and improved shower facilities – including dry room • Expansion of cycle stand spaces • Public transport discounts – Stagecoach, Metrolink and First Bus Manchester • Interest free public transport loans • Car share scheme – including accelerated application, discount permit and priority parking • Personal travel planning

The Trust has a green travel plan which aims to increase travel choice and reduce reliance on driving and it has been working hard toprovidestaffwithattractiveandalternative choices to using the car. The Trust will be implementing a Park and Ride scheme in the near future, and has plans to install more showers and secure cycle storage forstaffwhochoosetorunorcycle to work.

S106 parking restrictionsManchester City Council anticipates that the S106 parking restrictions will come into force as of 29 June 2015.

Therestrictionswillapplyfrom8amto6pmandaffectanumberofroadssurrounding The Christie. They have been introduced as part of a section 106 planning obligation, agreed by the Trust with the Council in order to obtain vital planning permission to expand services at The Christie.

Changes to car parkingFollowing the start of construction work on the Proton Beam Therapy Centre, car park B on Oak Road has closed.

As well as the existing multi-storey car park C on Palatine Road, patients and patient visitors can now park in car park D on Wilmslow Road.

No patient or patient visitor car parking spaces have been lost in this transition and The Trust is committed to maintaining the number of patient and patient visitor car park spaces throughout the duration of the construction projects.

3

Integrated Procedures UnitWork is also due to start this summer on The Christie’s Integrated Procedures Unit which will bring a number of current patient services – interventional radiology, the procedure unit, the pain service, plastic surgery, endoscopy, tissue sample collection and the day case surgery – together in one location for the first time, saving patients time and improving convenience.

The unit, which is currently in the design phase, will be built above the Oak Road main entrance area. For more information and regular updates please visit www.christie.nhs.uk and click the link ‘Our Future’ and follow us on twitter @TheChristieNHS

Oak Road one wayAs of Monday 18 May, Oak Road became one way from Palatine Road to Wilmslow Road.

This is a temporary measure for 18 months to reduce disruption and improve safety during the construction of our lifesaving new Proton Beam Therapy Centre. Diversions and signage showing alternative access routes are in place.

Proton Beam Therapy Centre

Building preparation work has begun on the site of a new Proton Beam Therapy Centre.

The Christie will be one of only two NHS high energy proton beam therapy centres in the UK, with the other located in London. Proton beam therapy is a highly specialised form of radiotherapy treating hard to reach cancers.

Thefive-storeybuilding,onthesiteoftheoldYoungOncologyUnitonOakRoad,willalsoprovideanoutpatientsdepartmentonthegroundfloor,andclinicalspaceonthetopfloor.TheProtonBeamTherapyCentrewilloccupyfloorsone,twoandthree.

Enabling works have commenced with demolition of buildings, diversions and ground works. The main construction will commence in August 2015.

Residents’ drop in sessionThe Christie will be holding a drop in session on Tuesday 16 June from 4.30pm – 7.00pm in The Christie Education Centre.

This will provide residents with information about forthcoming building plans, including the Proton Beam Therapy Centre and other works taking place both on and around The Christie site. Residents can also send any comments or queries to developments@christie.nhs.uk

Looking back – progress in pictures

4

Timeline March 2012 Planning approval gained

May 2012 Enabling works commence

November 2012 Breaking the ground event marks start of construction

January 2013 Access road completed and work on the new building begins

May 2013 Structural walls become visible above the boundary fence

September 2013 Construction of the steel frame completed

November 2013 Topping Out ceremony marks highest point milestone

January 2014 Building weather-tight enabling internal works to progress

June 2014 Cladding system, glazing and building façade complete

January 2015 Painting, lighting and carpeting complete

February 2015 Re-landscaping of Withington Green commences

June 2015 Building completed and ready for use

Contact usFor queries about the MCRC or general questions about the new cancer research building you can email us on newbuilding@mcrc.man.ac.uk

As the new MCRC building is completed, we look back over the last three years to construction milestones, and recognise those who have played a part.

Since project start, many guests have been welcomed onto the site and other groups and individuals have supportedtheprojectindifferentways. On 8 November 2012, the start of construction was marked with a breaking the ground event. MCRC Director, Professor Nic Jones, was joined by cancer survivors to dig the firstpieceofgroundasexcavationofthe building’s foundations began.

The local community got involved and a group of nearby residents worked with the MCRC project team torefineplansfortheredevelopmentof Withington Green. In addition, year 5 pupils from local primary schools, St Paul’s and St Cuthbert’s, took part inscience-artworkshopstofindoutmore about the research taking place on their doorstep by looking at the worldaroundtheminadifferentway– at a microscopic level.

To celebrate reaching the highest point of the building, a topping out ceremony was held where the topmost beam was craned into place. Those touched by cancer were invited to create handprints as a symbol of their personal story andareflectionoftheMCRC’svisionof personalised medicine. These handprints have been incorporated into the design of the building’s internal graphics.

Raising awareness of our fundraising campaign, three inspirational women shared their hopes for ‘More Tomorrows’ through stunning artwork painted onto their heads. They used their hair loss caused by chemotherapy to highlight the importance of cancer research and to express what it means to have more time to spend with family and friends.

We now look forward to welcoming all those who have been involved in the project to our week of soft opening events.

New look Neighbourhood NewsWith the new MCRC research building now complete, we will continue to bring you updates and information through Neighbourhood News but focusing more on Christie site-wide activity. Look out for the next issue of the new look Neighbourhood News