For a fledgling charity, raising awareness about the cause you want people to support is essential if you want funding but, as Carol Robertson discovered, persistence does pay.

Carol, fundraiser and development manager of Bingley-based Brain Tumour Research Support (BTRS) across Yorkshire, formerly known as Andrea’s Gift, may have thought raising £100,000 – the initial target when Andrea’s Gift launched almost ten years ago – was a long shot.

Having surpassed that, and after topping the £1m mark last year, the challenge is now on to raise a further £2m.

This Thursday, Carol, her colleagues and supporters will launch their Target 2 Million appeal to raise £2m in time for the charity’s tenth anniversary next year.

Sponsored by Grosvenor Casino in Leeds, which is hosting the launch, the appeal is another milestone in the charity’s success.

Despite last year’s name-change, Carol and her fundraising colleagues have never lost sight of the reason why the charity was formed, and in May this year – the tenth anniversary of Andrea Key’s death – they will host an evening of entertainment at Bradford’s Alhambra Studio.

Carol and Andrea became friends while working together at Emerald Publishing in Bingley, home to the charity’s headquarters.

Andrea, a mum-of-two from Bradford, was 42 when she died of an aggressive brain tumour, only months after diagnosis, but her legacy has lived on ever since through the charity set up in her memory.

Since its inception, the charity has retained its remit to fund much needed research into improved treatments for brain tumour sufferers.

Around 16,000 brain tumours per year are diagnosed in the UK. They are the most common cause of death in children and the under-40s, yet receive less than one per cent of national cancer funding.

Next month marks the first anniversary of the dedicated research lab the charity set up in collaboration with children's’ charity, Candlelighters, at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine.

Senior scientist Sean Lawler, who worked in America before returning to his home county of Yorkshire last December to take up the post, has expanded his team and has received a Yorkshire Cancer Research Project grant to support a researcher in the lab for three years.

Sean explains that ongoing studies, and the recently launched brain tumour tissue bank, will play a central role in identifying new approaches to improve the outcome for patients suffering from brain tumours.

Supporting patients and their families is also at the forefront of the charity’s work and next month sees the launch of the first Support Supper. Future suppers will be held in Skipton and Leeds for patients and families to get together.

The events are free and are available for all patients, carers and families.

Talk To A Parent is another support network Carol is keen to develop this year. It enables parents whose children have been diagnosed with a brain tumour to find comfort through talking to other parents who have been through similar experiences.

Such initiatives need finance and that’s the impetus for the £2m appeal. With the help of their supporters, including sufferers who, despite their battles against the disease, are getting involved with fundraising, the target should be within reach.

One of the reasons for the charity changing its name from Andrea’s Gift to BTRS last year was to reach a wider audience.

What will never change is the lasting legacy left by Andrea Key and which Carol and her colleagues and supporters are keen to acknowledge.

The Alhambra Studio event on May 24 – takes place two days before the tenth anniversary of Andrea’s death. “We are arranging the event for Andrea because it is ten years in May since she died and it is really important to acknowledge that fact,” says Carol.

“I also think it’s important to acknowledge the achievements made in her memory and I think it is especially important since changing our name to show people that Andrea is still very much part of the charity.”

* Tickets for the Alhambra Studio event are £8. For more about the event, or about the charity, visit btrs.org.uk, or e-mail contact@btrs.org.uk. For more about the Support Suppers, e-mail contact @btrs.org.uk, or call (01943) 870770.