Pennies have been turned into thousands of pounds and donated to the Telegraph & Argus Bradford Crocus Cancer Appeal.

The £1m target has moved closer – thanks to a £2,000 donation from the Yorkshire Building Society’s Charitable Foundation.

The foundation is funded by the society’s innovative Small Change, Big Difference scheme where members donate the pennies from the interest they receive on their YBS accounts, which adds up to a large amount of money to be shared between member nominated causes.

Fiona May, of YBS Charitable Foundation, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to make this donation and support the appeal.

“The charitable foundation was created to support charities and good causes important to our staff and members and we can’t think of a better charity to support than one in our heartland that will benefit so many people.”

The Crocus Cancer Appeal aims to raise the £1m to help the city’s ground-breaking work to fight the disease faster than ever before.

We have joined forces with the University of Bradford, Yorkshire Cancer Research and the Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust to buy the ICT a high-tech mass spectrometer – a machine which could hold the key to university researchers making a vital discovery in the war on cancer.

The head of alumni and development at the university, Davide Calogero, said: “We’re counting on the generosity of businesses like the Yorkshire Building Society to get behind the Crocus Cancer Appeal. Donations like this are vital in helping us to reach our £1m target.

“The Institute of Cancer Therapeutics is one of very few academic research facilities in the UK with the resources to enable all the elements of the drug discovery process from conception to clinical evaluation. The work happening here at the University of Bradford could enable further breakthroughs in new cancer treatments which will benefit people not only in Bradford but potentially worldwide.”

  • To find out more about research being done at the university, visit crocus.brad.ac.uk. Please e-mail newsdesk@telegraphandargus.co.uk or call (01274) 705292 to let us know if you’re fundraising for the Bradford Crocus Cancer Appeal.