RICC continues mission to fund research

Research Into Childhood Cancer (RICC) is one of Gibraltar’s longest-running local charities, having been founded in November 1989 in the aftermath of a deeply personal tragedy for the Sacarello family.

It’s chairperson, Craig Sacarello, told the Chronicle about how the charity came to be, its impact on childhood cancer research, and the way the community has sustained it for more than three decades.

RICC was set up by Anthony and Margaret Sacarello after the death of their son Philip, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma as a child.

Its goal is to fund research into finding a cure for childhood cancer and for these to be as non-invasive and traumatic.

While it funds specialist equipment for paediatric services in Gibraltar it also works closely with Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

“RICC was founded in 1989 a few months after my brother Philip passed away, and that was the reason it was started up by my parents,” said Mr Sacarello.

Philip had first fallen ill the previous year.

“Philip was eight when he got cancer the previous year in 1988 so that's when they diagnosed him. And 1989 April the following year, he passed away, sadly.”

Initially, doctors believed Philip had leukaemia and began treating him for that. It was only later that they realised he was suffering from neuroblastoma, which at the time was “a very rare form of cancer of the nerves”.

“I remember him [Philip] telling me when, when we flew over to London, on the train into the city. That the doctors have only given me a 3% chance of living,” despite of treatment.

The approach at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Mr Sacarello said, was to be “very honest and open” with young patients, something that forced Philip, and the rest of the family, to grow up very quickly.

“Philip grew up very, very quickly, became an adult at the tender age of eight and nine, and the same happened to us. Really, we kind of had that knock on effect where, you know, our childhood was curtailed a little bit,” he recalled.

Mr Sacarello was 14 going on 15 at the time. While there was no structured professional support available for bereaved siblings and parents then, he remembers a few key adults at school stepping in.

“It wasn't so much the institution, but it was more the individual personalities who metaphorically wrapped their arms around myself and my brother and helped us through that.”

He is less certain that his parents received similar support: “I'm not sure my parents had any help, other than their close group of friends. But there was nothing professional.”

Philip’s treatment was intense and largely experimental with high levels of chemotherapy and poison. The procedures brought a lot of dread to the young boy with the after effects making him very sick.

But despite everything, Mr Sacarello said his brother always had resilience and warmth.

“Philip was a soldier. He was an incredible personality, very kind with animals in particularly.”

Describing him further he spoke of his attitude, his fortitude, his stoicism.

“He had all these great traits, great sense of humour, and he was also a great sportsman, very intelligent. He had everything going for him.”

“Cancer is in indiscriminate, in that it doesn't pick and choose.”

Within months of Philip’s death RICC became a registered charity later.

He recalled that the charity initially enjoyed a great deal of goodwill, because everyone knew the story of Philip and the tragedy that had struck the family.

That goodwill, Mr Sacarello said, continued as it was carefully nurtured by the way the charity was run.

“They ensured that every penny that went in was directly going to funding,” he said.

With expenses been covered by individuals or sponsorship.

“I think that a lot of the goodwill nowadays comes across not just because of the cause, but because the way we run and handle the charity money.”

The charity holds various events, and each are designed to be as enjoyable as that method is effective at raising funds.

“We like to put the fun into fundraising. It sounds a bit corny, but it's something which we strongly believe in,” he said.

RICC’s fundraising includes a wide range of activities, from quizzes and teddy bears’ picnics to gala dinners with guest speakers and musicians.

“We've had wonderful gala evenings before with ex rugby players coming to talk with a sporting theme and an auction, an auctioning off t-shirts. We've had one where Albert Hammond, who's the patron of the charity, came and sung,” he said.

“And we raised a lot of money.”

Future plans include another corporate golf event in summer or early autumn, a teddy bears’ picnic in early summer, and the quiz night, which is “always over subscribed and hugely popular”.

Since 1989, RICC has raised “well over a million pounds”. Noting that some of the largest sums have come from legacies and major donations.

From the outset, RICC send the vast majority of its funds to a research team based at University College London, which is linked to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

“We send our money to a research team that operates out of University College of London, and it's attached to part of Great Ormond Street Hospital, there's a head researcher called Professor John Anderson and he oversees the whole of the program there,” he said.

RICC’s role is to act as catalyst by backing early-stage ideas so that researchers can later apply for larger grants.

“That's where RICC has been pivotal in allowing these nascent ideas to prosper into projects that they can apply for larger funding.”

Treatments have evolved dramatically since Philip’s time, progressing from chemotherapy alone to vaccines, immunotherapy and CART cell therapy, which “actually reprograms the body's immune system.”

By genetically modifying T cells to recognise and attack cancer cells.

“It goes directly for the cancer.”

Research into biomarkers means surgeons can now see exactly where cancer tissue is.

“Because the cancer luminesces so they know exactly what to cut out,” he said noting that sometimes as the body is a soft tissue it can be hard to distinguish between the cancer and healthy cells around a tumour.

As a result of these treatments, Mr Sacarello said that survival rates have improved significantly, especially for younger patients whose cancer is caught early.

“There's huge strides that have been made,” he said, stressing that Gibraltar’s contributions through RICC have been acknowledged in medical journals and UK press coverage of recent breakthroughs.

The link between this global research and the local impact is also clear with Mr Sacarello noting that a former classmate of his had a son who developed the same cancer Philip had.

“Because the advances in science over the years, and we partly contributed to that, his son's leading a normal life here. So it does go full circle, and we do see the benefits,” he said.

While most funds go to UK-based research, 25% of money raised from RICC-organised events is earmarked for paediatric needs in Gibraltar.

“It’s in our articles [of association] that 25% of committee fundraising events is for paediatric concerns in Gibraltar,” he said, listing equipment purchases in areas such as neonatal testing, ocular issues and diabetes.

Above all, Mr Sacarello is thankful for not only the team behind RICC who work hard day in and day out on a wide variety of things and not just major fundraising events, he is thankful for the community that has stood behind RICC for so long.

“It's a wonderful charity. It’s not the biggest, we're not the loudest, but we're extremely grateful for all the contributions we've had over the years and all the continued goodwill and support we get,” he said.

“The fantastic support we get, I can’t over emphasize that, so thanks to the general public.”

To support RICC or for more information email ricc.gib@gmail.com