A kind Bradford businessman pledged £200 as the Pakistan Society of West Yorkshire raised a further £720 towards the Telegraph & Argus Bradford Crocus Cancer Appeal.

Nirmal Singh made the donation at the Society’s annual celebration dinner for Pakistani Independence Day, which was attended by more than 550 guests including politician Baroness Warsi.

The money raised will be used to buy scientists at Bradford University's Institute of Cancer Therapeutics a new, state-of-the-art mass proteomic spectrometer so they can study the role of proteins in cancer ten times quicker than before.

This could hold the key to developing new ways to treat the disease without the horrendous side effects associated with chemotherapy, potentially transforming the lives of patients across the world.

Mohammed Abbas, treasurer of the Society, said: “We raised money through a raffle and donations and were at £520. Then Mr Singh said he would put £200 on top of that. It is very generous.”

The dinner, held at Bradford’s Hilton Hotel, was also a chance to pay tribute to Rashid Awan, a former Bradford policeman and ex-president of the Society who died suddenly in May.

Mr Abbas said: “People got emotional, especially because his daughter spoke about his death. It was an emotional speech – well-thought and well-written.”

He added: “Rashid was greatly missed. For me, I had been working with him for so long that he was like my elder brother.”

T&A editor Perry Austin-Clarke said: “I was very saddened to hear of the death of Rashid Awan, who I’d known for more than 20 years as a tremendous ambassador for Bradford’s Pakistani community. The last time I saw him, shortly before he died, he handed over the very first donation to the Crocus Appeal with the promise that the Society would aim to raise more money at its Independence Day dinner.

“This presentation is a fulfilment of that promise and I’m really honoured to accept it in tribute to a real friend of Bradford who will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

Mr Abbas said the evening was a success. He said: “It went very well. There were children, ladies and men, and a mix of communities including Sikh and Hindu, as well as Bradford councillors.

“It was nice to integrate the community together.”

We are running the T&A Bradford Crocus Appeal with Bradford University, Yorkshire Cancer Research and the Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust, which will donate £50,000 for every £200,000 raised until we reach our target.