The city is playing a vital role in the charity's mission to beat cancer – helping to fund its life-saving research, which is carried out by more than 4,250 doctors, nurses and scientists across the UK.

Gifts left in wills, or legacies, are extremely important to the charity sector, which receives about £1.3 billion in this way every year. In fact, at Cancer Research UK, more than a third of the charity's research is funded by gifts in wills.

One in three people in the UK will develop cancer at some time in their lives, with 1,300 people diagnosed in Newcastle every year.

But the good news is that more people are surviving the disease thanks to earlier detection, more effective diagnosis and improved treatments made possible by ongoing research into cancer.

For example, Cancer Research UK is helping to fund work at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research (NICR) at Newcastle University.

The NICR brings together internationally renowned specialists in cancer and drug development, with research ranging from identifying new targets for anti-cancer drugs, to evaluating new treatments in patients through clinical trials.

Paul Farthing, director of high value relationships at Cancer Research UK, said: "Leaving a gift to charity is a simple yet impactful way for anyone to support a good cause.

"The money left to us in legacies enables us to safeguard the charity's vital research into the causes and treatments of all forms of cancer."

More than 200 local Cancer Research UK supporters will attend a lunch reception at Newcastle United Football Club today (Tuesday May 13), to find out more about the impact legacies have on funding research.

Supporters will be joined by Dr Ian Hardcastle - a leading scientist from the NICR. Dr Hardcastle will be talking about his work to design new drugs that specifically target cancer cells and have fewer side effects.

Although gifts in wills are vitally important to charities, currently only one person in seven includes a charity in their will. This compares to 70 per cent of the population who give regularly to good causes during their lifetime.

For more details on how to help beat cancer by leaving a gift in a will to Cancer Research UK, telephone the charity's Information Officer on 0207 121 6697 or visit www.cancer.org.uk/legacies.