I met with campaigners from Cancer Research UK to learn about the charity’s latest research and show my support for all those working to ensure more people survive their cancer.

Cancer impacts so many lives directly and indirectly, and all of us will have been touched by cancer in some way or another. Events like this are an important way to realise how we all have a part to play to beat the disease.

Small actions, such as wearing a Unity Band on World Cancer Day to help raise funds for research, can make a big difference and I’d urge people in Reading East to show their support all year round.

Marked on February 4, World Cancer Day is designed to raise awareness of cancer and to promote its prevention, detection and treatment.

Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least a decade.

Health services are already struggling to cope with around 363,000 new cancer cases across the UK a year. This is estimated to grow by around 40% over the next 15 years.

But already, among the workforce responsible for detecting cancer, one in 10 jobs are unfilled.

To tackle this, we need the Government to set out a fully-funded plan to train and recruit enough NHS cancer professionals for today and for the generations to come.

For more information visit cruk.org