Our dream is to beat glioblastoma faster and harder, so that no one has to suffer in the way that Charlotte and her family did. Brain cancer in general, and glioblastoma in particular, is significantly underfunded, so we are going to make – and are already making – a huge difference.

Every single penny in every single £ or $ (or any other currency!) goes directly to Charlotte’s BAG. We take no salaries and have no advertising or overheads, so whether you donate £1 or £100 you can be sure that ALL of it goes where it should.

To donate online please click the button below – we accept credit card payments using VISA, Mastercard and American Express via www.paypal.com (which enables you to send payments quickly and securely online using a credit card or bank account).

We have been asked why we use paypal and organisations like justgiving. Having explored it in depth, most of the charity donation websites charge a monthly fee to charities to be on their register, ranging from £15 a month upwards. In our view, this is not a good way to spend the money our donors give us, so we would prefer that if you would like to organise a fundraising event that you use someone like justgiving and accept that there will be a commission charged on the amount you raise.

We personally repay the charges from both paypal and ebay directly into Charlotte’s BAG, and in the case of both we receive regular donations from their own charitable funds.

We know that some people would prefer to donate by cheque rather than use paypal. If that’s the case, please make your cheque payable to Charlotte’s BAG, and send it to:

Charlottes Bag
PO Box 5439
BRIGHTON
BN50 8JR

If you enclose your name and address and ideally an email address we can write to acknowledge safe receipt, and more importantly thank you for your kindness.

Don’t forget, if you are a UK taxpayer you can complete the Gift Aid form and Charlotte’s BAG will receive an extra 25p for every £1 you donate – the Government allows charities to reclaim the basic rate of tax on your gift at no extra cost to you. As long as you are a basic rate taxpayer (earning over £11,000 per annum) we can claim Gift Aid on your donation.

If you are happy to do this please click here and fill out a gift aid form before pressing the donate button.

Charlotte’s BAG funding is being used to support developments in laboratory testing of brain tumour samples. Funding is used to transition published research work into routine clinical care for NHS patients. Translational development involves evaluating new technology and assessing its clinical benefit to patients. The benefits can be huge, with patients receiving more granular results, sometimes weeks earlier, which reduces the anxiety of waiting and better informs the clinical teams. Drug companies are developing new treatments that are only effective if the patient’s cancer has specific genetic changes. Giving these treatments to patients without the right genetic profile can be counterproductive and therefore accurate and reliable tests are essential. Increased genetic testing can help oncologists with treatment options and may increase the chance of the patient being entered into a clinical trial. This field of research medicine is rapidly developing and therefore there is a constant need to pump prime projects to ensure patients with brain tumours receive the benefits that modern laboratory testing brings.

History of developments to date:

  • (2017) EPIC array – for the classification of brain tumours using the Heidelberg Classifying algorithm – Now in service and is part of the National test directory as it is considered Standard of Care.
  • (2024) Nanopore sequencing – Use of ROBIN software to permit ultra-rapid classification of brain tumours (on going)
  • (2025-2026) Droplet digital PCR – as a methodology to have high sensitivity detection of specific mutations. This methodology may have application in cell free testing of cerebral spinal fluids, this could avoid removing tumour tissue from the brain, particularly when the site of the tumour makes surgery difficult (to start 2025)