Leeds United is joining with official charity partner Yorkshire Cancer Research to mark World Cancer Day (4th February) and pay tribute to our supporters in Yorkshire and across the world who are affected by cancer.
Our first-team players showed their support for the annual campaign by wearing Yorkshire Cancer Research t-shirts during their warm-up for the recent match against Newcastle United to show that we’re all Marching on Cancer. Together.
As the official charity partner of Leeds United, Yorkshire Cancer Research is working with the club to raise awareness of cancer risk factors, symptoms and screening, and to celebrate the vital research that is taking place across the region.
At the start of the season, the two organisations came together to offer fans affected by cancer the chance to win hospitality tickets to Elland Road, and throughout the season successful nominees have been attending matches.
Lisa Casey was invited as the first special guest and attended the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 23rd October.
She said: “We all had the best day ever. The atmosphere was out of this world, and we made some special memories that we will treasure forever.”
Lisa was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and began treatment at the beginning of the pandemic. She spent 10 months living at her mum’s house, away from her husband and two sons, after being told to shield during lockdown.
Chris Quirke was the second guest invited to Elland Road and attended the match against Leicester in November.
Chris was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2019 whilst his wife, Tina, was pregnant with their son. At the same time, Tina’s dad was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and Chris stepped up to be there for his wife.
He said: “Everything about the day was fantastic. We could not have asked for more and everybody we came across was just brilliant. It will be a day that lives long in our memory.”
As part of the ongoing partnership, Leeds United fans have done more than 100,000 minutes of exercise as part of Challenge90, which encourages supporters to take part in 90 minutes of energetic exercise each week, hosted a festive call with first team players, and lit up Elland Road with stars as part of the charity’s ‘Yorkshire Stars’ Christmas campaign.
Yorkshire Cancer Research is dedicated to funding world-leading research to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. For more information about the charity and partnership with Leeds United, please visit ycr.org.uk/lufc.
