How the Trust was founded:
The Breast Cancer Research Trust was founded on the vision of Mr John Harman, MBChB, FRACS, Breast & General Surgeon.
"The breast cancer epidemic has been occurring in western society over the past 30 years. I became aware that, as the cost of treatment and the number of women with breast cancer increased, we had to find other solutions.
Rather than the treatment being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff we have to try and either prevent or treat breast cancer more effectively with better survival outcomes and less traumatic treatment plans. As such I believed that New Zealand was ideally placed in having a large population of women with breast cancer, the third highest mortality rate from breast cancer, and very little in the way of research being performed.
It was my goal to initiate the setting up of The Breast Cancer Research Trust in association with my colleague Dr Jackie Blue, who is currently a member of parliament and the shadow Minister of Women’s Affairs.
I felt deeply that the number one cause of death for women aged 40-70 required local research, teaching and leadership to improve the outcomes for our community.
Therefore some ten years ago we set up The Breast Cancer Research Trust so that people could actively participate in funding and institute the setting up research in New Zealand to improve the above.
This has been more successful than I could imagine and indeed it is a unique organisation which is precisely focused on (1) raising money, and (2) spending nearly 100% of every dollar it raises on research.
In association with research we have leadership and instead of New Zealand becoming one of the third worst places in the world to develop breast cancer I hope that with better research, better treatment outcomes we will be a centre of excellence which can only be an improvement on our current situation."
Mr John Harman
1st March 2007
Colyn Devereux-Kay was the Trust’s first Chairperson, until in 2004 handing the role over to Mimi Lloyd. Colyn takes up the story here of her time with the Trust:
“A number of years ago I was at a business lunch and sat beside Jackie Blue (at that time I was Chairman of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce). Jackie asked me if I would be interested in becoming involved with the St. Marks Charitable Trust which was working on breast cancer research. As it happened one of my staff had just been diagnosed with .... more »
Mimi Lloyd was the Trust’s second Chairperson, taking over the role from Colyn Devereux-Kay in 2004. Here Mimi takes up the story of developments during her time with the Trust: