A NEW charity has been set up to help people in Cumbria and Lancashire recognise the early signs of cancer.

Three medical students who attended local schools are the trustees of the Cancer Reduction Foundation, which held its first seminar at Sedbergh Medical Practice.

The charity was established by cancer survivor Dr Francis Obale with help from former Grange-over-Sands CE Primary School pupil Sam Taylor-Smith, now at Manchester University; Emmanuel Obale, who attended St Mark's CE Primary School, Natland, also at Manchester; and Isaac Haq, formerly of Lancaster Royal Grammar School, now at Cambridge University.

The message at the event in Sedbergh was that cancer deaths can be reduced by promoting earlier diagnosis, and the hope is to increase cancer awareness among people across Cumbria and Lancashire.

Stage four cancers that have spread have a 14 per cent survival rate, Mr Taylor-Smith told the gathering, compared to 90 per cent for localised, stage one cancers of the breast, bowel and ovaries - a pattern seen widely in all types of the disease.

Isaac Haq said the greatest setback to diagnosis was people delaying seeing their GP. If they were better informed about symptoms, he said, they may consult their doctor more promptly about lumps, aches and pains that may be cancerous.

The trustees have ambitious plans to roll out educational programmes and they plan to carry out surveys from April to December this year to find out how much pupils and parents know about early symptoms.

If you would like to help the charity with its work, call Mr Taylor-Smith on 07866-206188.