A leading Wiltshire healthcare provider has donated a further £10,000 to fund research into deadly skin cancer conditions such as melanoma.

The Circle Health Group, which has a clinic at The Ridgeway Hospital, Moormead Road, Wroughton near Swindon, says two in three people in Wiltshire will suffer from a skin condition during their lifetime.

This is why, for the second year running, they have donated £10,000 to British Skin Foundation’s (BSF) skin research programme.

The British Skin Foundation is the only UK charity that raises money to fund research into all types of skin diseases, including skin cancer.

Adam Busby, CHG’s group clinical director, said: “The British Skin Foundation are at the forefront of research into skin conditions like melanoma. We know first-hand the difference research like this can make to the lives of our patients.

Skin cancer researcher Dr Jaskaren Kohli of Leeds Beckett University. Skin cancer researcher Dr Jaskaren Kohli of Leeds Beckett University. (Image: British Skin Foundation)

"As a hospital operator, we are committed to supporting improvements in the understanding, research and treatment of skin conditions. We are proud to be playing our part in supporting future generations.”

CHG’s continued support of the BSF’s work is already making a huge impact. Melanoma skin cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the UK and it’s on the rise.

Projections suggest there will be 26,500 new cases every year by 2040.  Last year’s donation is now supporting an important melanoma project that is looking to develop better methods for early detection of the potentially deadly skin cancer.

Leeds Beckett researcher, Dr Jaskaren Kohli, will aim to give healthcare professionals more tools to catch melanoma in its early stages, when it is easier to treat, and patients are more likely to survive.

He will look for better biomarkers in moles, black skin lesions which can develop into the deadly cancer if left unchecked. This research has the potential to improve the quality of life for patients not just in the UK, but worldwide in the future.

Matthew Patey, chief executive officer of the British Skin Foundation, said: “Research is the core of what we do here at the BSF, but it doesn’t come cheap.

“Thanks to generous supporters like Circle Health Group, we can fund top-quality research with some of the UK’s most talented scientists finding the cures and treatments of the future.”