Even at that last appointment she said: ‘No, you don’t need a brain scan, you’re just really tired

Our findings show that more can be done to ensure brain tumour patients are treated with sensitivity and compassion at every stage.

Our report clearly shows the devastating impact of brain tumours, the need for greater awareness and understanding of the disease and the importance of research to develop more effective treatments.

This report from The Brain Tumour Charity highlights so many of the problems experienced by the brain tumour patients I see in my clinic but which are often not discussed during medical consultations

Our strategy is necessarily and unashamedly ambitious but it is not only decades overdue, it is an essential step towards our vision of a world where brain tumours are defeated.

The Charity is offering something precious to everyone affected by a brain tumour: hope.

We are immensely grateful to Tom and Lawrence for taking on this extraordinary challenge and we wish them the very best of luck. Everyone at The Charity will be following their progress closely over the coming weeks and willing them on across the Atlantic.

This is the largest single donation we have received for research into childhood brain tumours and it will have a profound impact on our work. It will allow us to accelerate progress towards better understanding of the disease and more effective treatments

I am delighted to take on this role. I have been lucky enough to be able to consider a number of approaches to become a charity chair in the last year or so. But of all the charities with which I have had conversations, The Brain Tumour Charity stood out for several reasons. I am impressed that their overheads are genuinely tiny and that they spend nearly every penny they raise on medical research and raising awareness of this terrible disease. They have made a measurable impact and their ambitions are exciting.

The Brain Tumour Charity gave us so much help and advice. It was a port in what would otherwise have been an unweatherable storm

We recognise the effective work that Be Clear on Cancer has done to raise awareness of certain types of cancer. But its impact would be much greater if it also included brain tumours, which kill more children and adults under 40 than any other type of cancer.

They might as well say our children’s lives are worthless […] It feels like the government has abandoned everyone living with this cruel disease and are failing in their duty of care.

We hear so many shocking stories from patients whose brain tumours went undiagnosed for years after they first consulted a doctor about their symptoms. The research project we are funding should find out for the first time the real extent of the problem, why it happens and what can be done to make things better.

Wearing a bandana on 6 March is a simple way for anyone to show their support for such an important cause.

My hair will grow back but, meanwhile, I’m happy being on screen as I am. I’m working with The Brain Tumour Charity to help raise awareness about brain tumours – it’s the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40.

I have made this film to try and disseminate critical information to future patient populations about the invisible barriers they will face beyond their biological diagnosis, that preclude in most cases their access to the treatments at the front of the innovation curve.