Christie fire: Manchester cancer research centre has £1m funding gap

Some 300 scientists and support staff were displaced by the blaze

A new cancer research centre being constructed to replace a hospital building badly damaged by fire will "make a difference" to patient's outcomes, scientists have said.

The blaze broke out at The Christie Hospital in Manchester five years ago.

A £20m fundraising appeal was launched to be put towards the £150m needed to replace the Paterson building.

The Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) said that figure had nearly been achieved with £1m more needed.

No-one was hurt in the fire at the building where 300 scientists and support staff were based.

The new centre will be twice the size of the former one and the Christie said it would be at the heart of its aim to lead the world in clinical trial recruitment by 2030, and support the development of new and kinder cancer therapies.

MCRC, which is a partnership between the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Cancer Research UK and the University of Manchester, said it would help improve cancer outcomes.

The new building is set to be twice the size of the Paterson building

Prof Nic Jones from the MCRC said the redevelopment was "so exciting" and it would "make a difference".

He told BBC Radio Manchester the appeal for £20m towards the £150m new facility was designed to raise awareness of the new build and the "real advantages" of it and "hopefully be able to contribute to the cost".

"We are nearly there - there is about £1m gap we need to fill," he said.

He said there will be "fantastic science... going on in this building" which will "feed through to patient benefit".

Research work was moved to the Alderley Park bioscience campus near Macclesfield, Cheshire, following the fire.

It is hoped the new research centre - set to open in April - will host an addition 400 members of staff in addition to the scientists and support staff who were displaced by the fire.

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