About Ochre
Find out about our charity and what we do.
About the charity
OCHRE was formed in 2001 when a group of friends and colleagues joined together and decided to raise awareness of oesophageal cancer following the death of a dear friend.
OCHRE started to raise funds through one-off events and built relationships with clinicians. This helped us to best utilise funds for raising awareness and improving outcomes for people diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.
Our mission
We aim to:
How we help
We meet with politicians and policy makers regularly to update them on patient experiences and outcomes.
We sit on the Scottish Cancer Coalition which allows cancer charities to work together to ensure service and outcome improvements across Scotland.
We are part of the Less Survivable Cancers Task Force, which works across the UK to improve outcomes for cancers of poor outcomes.
We speak to patients and family members every day to provide support, advice and sometimes, just companionship and understanding in hard times.
Our people
Allan Lapsley
Chair
Allan had a career as a Chartered Surveyor of nearly 40 years before retiring in 2017.
He becomes a 20-year survivor of Oesophageal Cancer this year. An incredible achievement thanks to early diagnosis and the intervention of radical surgery and chemotherapy. He is thought to be Scotland’s longest surviving oesophageal cancer patient having been diagnosed in 2005.
Joined Ochre as a Director in October 2007 and elected Chair in February 2009.
“Having experienced firsthand how devastating a diagnosis can be, not only for the patient but also family and friends, I became determined to see that more was done to improve survival and quality of life for people with oesophageal cancer”
Seeing the devastating impact oesophageal cancer has on those affected, Allan works to help raise awareness of the shockingly poor survival rates and to promote research allowing earlier detection and diagnosis.
Allan is an outspoken advocate for awareness and early diagnosis and has campaigned for many years to improve outcomes for patients in the UK. He is famous for pestering anyone who will allow him to “rant” about the ongoing delays in diagnosis and the lack of improvement in survival rates compared to other cancers and European countries.
Mike Graham
Vice chair
Mike is the Chairman of the NHS Tribunal and is a part-time lecturer and tutor in Ethics, Professional Responsibility and Awareness and Legal Skills to Graduate Diploma Students and trainee solicitors at the University of Glasgow
The Tribunal was constituted under the terms of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978. Its principal function is to receive representations from Health Boards to enquire into the activities of health care professionals including medical practitioners, Dentists, Opticians and Pharmacists and whether and to what extent they may be disqualified or conditionally disqualified from the appropriate NHS list. There are three distinct grounds for disqualification: inefficiency, fraud or unsuitability.
He is the former Director of Business Law at MacRoberts Solicitors, one of the top six legal firms in Scotland and a former member of Court Glasgow Caledonian University.
Mike is Vice-Chair of Ochre and was one of the organisation’s founding members. He was also an non-executive Board member of the Kilbryde Hospice in East Kilbride. He married with two grown up children.
Professor Helen Coleman
I am Lead of the Cancer Epidemiology Research Group at the Centre for Public Health at Queen's University Belfast. I am Deputy Director of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry.
My research mostly focuses on the epidemiology and early detection ofgastrointestinal cancers and conditions, including pre-malignant conditions. I have particular interests in:
- Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (major ongoing studies include: PI of the Northern Ireland Barrett's oesophagus register; OCCAMS consortium sub-study investigator)
- Colorectal polyps and colorectal cancer (major ongoing studies include: NI Biobank Epi700 cohort; NI Bowel Cancer Screening pathology data analysis; Early-onset colorectal cancer studies).
- Modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol and nutrition, in cancer risk and progression
- Gastrointestinal pathology diagnosis trends and concordance (member of the International Barrett's Pathology Working Group)
I have expertise in molecular epidemiology (incuding molecular pathology epidemiology) studies, statistical analysis of population-based disease registers and real world evidence, and systematic reviews of lifestyle factors and biomarkers in cancer risk and progression.
I place considerable emphasis on interdisciplinary research, and am affiliated to the Patrick G. Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen's University Belfast. I have previously spent time conducting research at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA, Ulster University, and at the MRC-Human Nutrition Research centre in Cambridge, England. Since 2018, I am a Visiting Scientist with the Fitzgerald Lab at the Early Cancer Institute (formerly MRC Cancer Unit) at the University of Cambridge, to further enhance interdisciplinary research efforts in oesophageal cancer as part of a Cancer Research UK funded Career Establishment Award.
Sue Kee
Sue's career spans 15 years in IBM UK, converting from IT to the space sector in 2018. She is currently VP Commercial Management at AAC Clyde Space. Sue has a BEng (Hons) in Product Design Engineering, an MSc in Information Technology and a PGCert in Space Science.
Sue said,
"My dad, Gordon Kee, was an original founder of OCHRE after he had been diagnosed and treated for cancer of the oesophagus. He battled valiantly but died in May 2002. It was around this time I became involved in OCHRE myself, building the charity's first website as my final project for my Masters in IT at Glasgow University. I am committed to continuing the work my dad set in motion, and strive to support OCHRE to improve outcomes for the patients and families who continue to be so dreadfully impacted by oesophageal cancer."
Darren McAllister
Darren is originally from Banff, now living in Balmedie in Aberdeenshire. He has been married to Nicole for 10 years with two amazing children - Jackson and Alix and a husky called Cobain.
Darren studied literature at Binghamton University in upstate New York whilst playing football and now works in a joint role as QHSE Manager and MARPOL Marine Surveyor for Swan & Co. Marine Surveyors in Aberdeen within the oil and gas sector which has involved working all over the world including Brunei, Trinidad, Azerbaijan, Ghana and Mozambique.
Darren lost his Dad in 2015 after a brave fight against oesophageal cancer.
He said, “The disease was something which I had never heard of before, and could not associate his symptoms with. Losing Dad was very difficult, and the way in which he died was not what he deserved at all. I found OCHRE after Dad’s passing and have dedicated a lot of time to raising money for the charity as well as promoting awareness of the illness in Dad’s memory. Misdiagnosis was unfortunately part of Dad’s illness and most likely ultimately led to his death, this is something that I have tried to help others avoid. It’s an ongoing battle that I’m glad OCHRE has embraced and continued to fight against.
“Over the past 9+ years I have raised close to £40,000 for the cause. I’ve organised charity football games, golf challenges with my Mum, I ran a marathon, cycled the South West 300 and various auctions as well as other events. The money raised is always great but for me the awareness of the disease and its symptoms are what is most important. The symptoms unfortunately can be very inconspicuous and often people write them off as general ailments. This is what we need to stop! It’s important that people are aware, and not hesitant in forthcoming with concerns to their GPs. The fight goes on. I’m honoured to have my name associated with OCHRE’s work.”
Donald McArthur
Mr Donald McArthur is a Consultant Upper Gastro Intestinal Surgeon. He trained in the West of Scotland and works at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
Donald said,
"I approached OCHRE for support in the purchase of a laser machine for the endoscopic treatment of oesophageal cancer. I was struck by their passion and dedication and delighted that they were able to help. It was an honour to be asked to join the board as a Trustee and aid in increasing the accessibility and knowledge of patients and healthcare professions in the diagnosis and treatment of oesophageal cancer. I hope that OCHRE will be able to continue to work to provide support in the early diagnosis of oesophageal cancer."
When not in the hospital Donald enjoys outdoor activities with his wife and two daughters and is a keen sailor, cyclist and hill walker.
Dr Dan Middleton
Dan is a Lecturer in the Cancer Epidemiology Research Group of the Centre for Public Health at Queen's University Belfast. Dan's previous research has focused on identifying novel risk factors for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), with extensive fieldwork experience in East Africa while working at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the dedicated cancer prevention research agency of the WHO. Dan's work at QUB continues to use environmental epidemiology approaches to address the cancer burden at home, filling a gap of much-needed research on ESCC, which has become somewhat of a forgotten cancer in the UK.
Professor Russell Petty
Professor Russell Petty is a graduate of University of Dundee School of Medicine and he completed his initial general medical training in Dundee, Newcastle, and Hobart , then specialist and academic training in Medical Oncology in Aberdeen and Auckland. In 2007 he was appointed as a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Medical Oncology at the University of Aberdeen and promoted to Professor of Medical Oncology in 2014 . In September 2015 he was appointed as Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Dundee and honorary consultant in Medical Oncology in Ninewells Hospital, NHS Tayside.
His main research interests are in clinical and translational research in gastro-oesophageal cancers. He was the chief investigator of the recently completed COG trial which was the first Phase III randomised controlled trial of second line therapy in oesophageal cancer and lead the translational arm TRANSCOG which identified a predictive biomarker for a gefitinib responsive subgroup of tumours. He is a current member of the trial management groups for several UK national clinical trials in gastroesophageal cancer including PLATFORM and GO-2 and the translational research lead for TRANS-GO2 and TRANSCOG2.
Professor Petty is the current speciality adviser in Medical Oncology to the Chief Medical officer in Scotland. He acts as a clinical expert for SMC and NICE and recently contributed to the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee enquiry in to access to new medicines in Scotland and the reform of SMC process for evaluation of new medicines which included the development of the patient and clinician engagement (PACE) process . He is a current member of the NCRN UGI cancers clinical study group and the EORTC gastric cancer task force and a member of the Editorial Board of BMC Cancer.
Dr Hosney Yosef
Dr Hosney Yosef, O.B.E, F.R.C.R, F.R.C.P, F.R.S.M, F.B.I.R, is a retired Clinical Oncologist who was based at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. He was also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Glasgow University.
In 2006 he was awarded an O.B.E in recognition of his services to medicine in the West of Scotland.
He has a special interest in the management of oesophageal and gastric cancer and has played a leading role in the development of services with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. During his time (from 1974) as a cancer specialist at Hairmyres Hospital, he developed, in conjunction with a leading surgeon, the concept of pre-operative chemotherapy and radiotherapy (multi-modality treatment) for Oesophageal cancer which is now standard practice in the treatment of oesophageal cancer.
He is a founder member of OCHRE and has a keen interest in the early detection and developments in treatment of oesophageal and gastric cancer.
Dr Yosef has served as a member of the Medical Research Council committee for oesophageal and gastric cancer. He is a former president, secretary and member of council of the Scottish Radiological Society, former Chairman of Oncology Committee British Institute of Radiology. Has served on the Faculty Board for Clinical Oncology of the Royal College of Radiology, The West of Scotland Managed Clinical Network and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Scottish Audit Group.
He is currently a director of the Kilbryde Hospice.
Kate Cunningham
Campaign Director
Kate Cunningham specialises in communications and engagement and runs the day to day operation of OCHRE. Her focus is on ensuring that the experience and outcomes of oesophageal cancer patients and their families are represented at every level of government and NHS decision making.
Kate brings many years of communications and public affairs expertise to OCHRE having worked in Government, third sector, consultancy, media, the arts, and football.
Sir Sean Connery
The late Sir Sean Connery was OCHRE’s Patron for over a decade. We are grateful to his family and friends for their continuing support.
