The Fund has received its largest donation to date, of £97,303, in a bequest from Irene and George Stennett following their deaths. Both George and Rene, as she liked to be known, died of cancer.

George and Rene were devoted to each other and were married for 41 years. Rene suffered from kidney failure from a young age and went on to have a kidney transplant in her 40s. Due to her ill-health, the couple never had children, but they were a doting uncle and aunt to George’s sister June’s three boys. George died in 2006 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma some two years previously; Rene died six years later, in April last year.

The couple loved animals, particularly cats, but they also dreamed of owning a rescue horse, hence their generous bequests also to Battersea Dog’s Home and to a donkey sanctuary.

JHMRF trustee chair Kimberley Stubbs said the Fund was honoured to be entrusted with the bequest. “We will use this money to extend our knowledge about this awful disease, and  hopefully make progress towards its effective management and treatment,” she said. The bequest will fund a research fellowship, to be selected competitively following peer reviews.

The JHMRF fellowship programme supports early career clinicians and researchers.