Brighton Lions Club has been serving the local, national and international communities for more than sixty years and we would like to share with you some of our achievements.

17 December 2010

A pledge to St Dunstan's

It was in January 1951 that Brighton Lions Club was chartered so we celebrate our ‘official' 60th birthday next month. Our charter was presented in May 1951 and, at that first charter night, the young Brighton Lions Club made its first donation. A cheque for £100 was handed to a representative of St Dunstan's to pay for the purchase and training of a guide dog for a blind Sussex ex-serviceman.

It seemed serendipitous to us when we learned of the project for Lions Clubs across the country to raise £50,000 for St Dunstan's during our own diamond jubilee year. So much so, that our members agreed to raise, during the next six months, a further £100 for each of our 60 years and to donate the sum of £6,000 to the MD project at our charter night in June.

15 December 2010

Lilac Lark

The date of the 2011 Lilac Lark which we organise in conjunction with the Friends of Withdean Park has now been confirmed as 8 May.

10 December 2010

Fun Day invitation

Brighton Lions Club, in collaboration with the Pavilion Gardens Café, organises a Fun Day in the Royal Pavilion Gardens each year with the proceeds being donated to a specified charity. As previously advised, we have chosen to support Help for Heroes at our 2011 event.

We would like to extend an invitation to other Lions Clubs, Rotary and Round Table to take part in this event, thereby increasing the funds raised for this very worthwhile charity. There are just two stipulations:

1. All proceeds are to be donated to Help for Heroes, either directly or through Brighton Lions Club.
2. As the event is run in conjunction with the Pavilion Gardens Café, refreshment stalls, hot dog sales etc will not be welcome.

The Fun Day will be held on Sunday, 26 June and will run from 12 noon until 5.00pm, with stalls being set up from 11.00am.

A stall booking form can be found on our web site: www.brightonlions.org.uk >Our projects >Fund raising events >Pavilion Gardens Fun Day.

03 December 2010

Book fair cancelled

We regret that the conditions underfoot mean we have to cancel the book fair due to be held on Saturday, 4 December 2010. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and hope to see all our regular visitors at the next fair on Saturday, 1 January 2011.

18 November 2010

Pavilion Gardens Fun Day


The beneficiary of our next Pavilion Gardens Fun day - which we are planning to hold on Sunday, 26 June 2011 - was decided at our meeting last night. It is to be the charity Help for Heroes. We hope this will prove a popular choice with both businesses that support the event by donating items for the silent auction and with the general public who come along to spend money.

07 November 2010

Fireworks


Our fireworks display on Friday went very well: a great display, a good crowd and no trouble of any sort. It will be a while yet before we know how much money we have made, but we are hoping for a profit in the region of £15,000 to swell our charity trust fund.

To find out the sort of things we spend the money on just check out our web site - their is a link on the right.

22 October 2010

The Patcham Elms

As the two ancient elm trees in Elm Square, Patcham, have had to be felled as a result of Dutch elm disease, Brighton Lions offered to pay for replacement trees to mark the 60th anniversary for the founding of the Club. The Council responded that they would accept a donation (to pay for seven trees at £150 a tree) but would not allow us to have a plaque stating who had paid for the trees and why. We have decided not to make the donation.

21 October 2010

More donations

At the meeting last night, the members approved the following donations:
  • £150 to Cricket Without Boundaries
  • £150 to MedicAlert
  • £250 to the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals to assist with the costs of veterinary care for the pets of elderly people in Brighton unable to pay for it themselves
  • £1,500 to Assert (B&H)

28 September 2010

Fireworks tickets now on sale

Our annual fireworks display is rated as one of the best in the country. This year we will once again be at the County Cricket Ground in Eaton Road, Hove on 5th November. Gates open at 6.00pm with the display scheduled to start at 7.30. Prices remain the same as last year - adults £10, children under 16 £5, children under 5 free, with a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) £25.

Visit our web site to buy tickets.

21 September 2010

Mayoral visit



This morning the Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Geoff Wells, and the Mayoress, Mrs Sally Wells, visited our Housing Society properties at Lions Gate and Lions Dene. The picture shows them being greeted by Bill Catchpole, chairman of the Housing Society.

16 September 2010

WaterAid donation made

At last night's meeting it was agreed to make a donation of £250 to WaterAid to supply clean water to an African village.

31 August 2010

BRIGHTON LIONS CELEBRATE THEIR DIAMOND JUBILEE

Formed in 1950 and the second oldest Lions Club in Great Britain, Brighton Lions are this year celebrating their 60th anniversary.

To commemorate the occasion, Lion Brian Slater has written a book entitled “Diamond Geezers” which gives a wonderful insight into the working of the Brighton Lions Club and its support for the community over those years.

· Did you know that Brighton Lions were the first to run commercial bingo in England?

· Did you know that Brighton Lions organised the first American Football match in Brighton?

· Did you know that Brighton Lions used to arrange SCOAP (Special Concerts for Old Age Pensioners) up to eight times a year?

· Do you know why Brighton Lions stopped organising the Brighton Carnival?

· Do you know that Brighton Lions, through its Housing Society, runs 109 purpose built flats and six bungalows for older people with limited incomes?

· Do you know that Brighton Lions founded Leo House, the charity that provides nurses for home hospice care for sick children?

All the answers to these questions, and much more, are found in this fascinating 185 page account of the Lions’ work in Brighton.

President of the Brighton Lions Club, Ron Fowler, said, 'Although the Lions are well known in Brighton, there are still many people who do not know the range and scope of our activities. This book will help explain all and we are deeply indebted to Lion Brian Slater for the time he has spent researching and compiling this publication.'

The book is on sale priced £7 and can be obtained through our web site. On the top menu select 'About our club', then 'Diamond jubilee' from the drop-down menu.

19 August 2010

Money for Leo House

The Club has made a donation of £500 to Leo House, the children's hospice in the home service, in memory of Lion Derek Smith, a member who died last week.

12 August 2010

Charity income down, expenditure up

A substantial part of our income for use on charitable causes comes from the investment of a large legacy we received some years ago. With the economic downturn, the investment income for the year ended 30 June last fell by very nearly 84% against the 2009 figure. Despite this, the club increased its charitable expenditure in the year by more than 8% to nearly £32,000, but this could only be done by dipping into our reserves.

06 August 2010

New bottle outlet


We have a new outlet for our Message in a Bottle scheme. Bottles are now available at the Chapel Royal in North Street, Brighton.

31 July 2010

Downs View School

We finally raised a total of £751 at the Pavilion Gardens Fun Day. This has been rounded up to £1,000 and presented to Downs View School.

We have also made a donation of £250 to a particularly needy pensioner.

08 July 2010

A new President


Guy Butterworth, outgoing President, passed the chain of office to his successor, Ron Fowler, at a dinner meeting yesterday evening.

02 July 2010

Fun Day face painting


As always, this was very popular with the younger children.

01 July 2010

More about the Fun Day


This gentleman seemed to enjoy the big band music and provided a one-man cabaret act.

30 June 2010

Pavilion Gardens Fun Day


The Deputy Mayor came along and tried her hand at duck shooting.
(Photo: Tony Mould)

19 June 2010

June donations

At the business meeting of the club this month it was agreed to make the following donations:
  • £200 to the South Downs District of the Girls Brigade to assist with the cost of introducing new training materials for the Brighton-based groups;
  • £500 to Ss Peter and James Hospice in memory of Bruce Nunn, a member of the club who died recently at the hospice.
Another £250 was set aside to buy small treats to be given to patients in the nuclear medicine department of the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital.

09 June 2010

The Tuesday Club


Every month, one of our members acts as driver to take three local blind people to the Tuesday Club, a social group for the blind. Yesterday the meeting was at the Bentley Wildfowl Centre and Motor Museum. Although registered as blind, the two local people we took do have a very little sight and they enjoyed their visit to the house and walking through the wildfowl pens.

01 June 2010

Hove Lions' Carnival

Perfect weather yesterday to bring out the crowds for Hove Lions' Carnival. We had three stalls - pig racing, books and costume jewellery. Financially, it was a good day. We sold £100-worth of jewellery and took £170 on the book stall. The racing pigs brought in £150, which must be close to a record take for one day. If you have never seen our racing pigs, just watch this short video.


20 May 2010

Paralympic Games

Liam Beresford hopes to be selected to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Paralympic Games as one of the boccia squad. Brighton Lions are providing financial assistance towards his training expenses. Liam attended our meeting yesterday to receive the second tranche of £1,000. Pictured is our President, Guy Butterworth, presenting the cheque to Liam.

10 May 2010

Lilac Lark


Not the best of weather yesterday for the Lilac Lark. This was the first occasion on which Brighton Lions Club had joined with the Friends of Withdean Park to put on this small fete among the lilacs. There was, however, a very reasonable attendance from the public and we expect a satisfactory financial outcome although it is as yet too early to tell what the profit is. Pictured are a few of the stalls just about ready for the public.

05 May 2010

Mayor at Lions Gate

This morning we were pleased to welcome to Lions Gate the Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Ann Norman. The Mayor toured the building, meeting several residents, and was shown over one of the flats by Mrs Joyce Padwick.

30 April 2010

Lilac Lark

Just a week Sunday - on 9th May in Withdean Park, London Road, Brighton, from 1.00pm till 5.00pm. As well as the dog show, stalls and sideshows there will be musical entertainment throughout the afternoon. The programme is as follows:

1 - 2 Alan Mars, the Celtic harpist
2 - 2.30 At 2.00 the Lark will be formally opened by the Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Ann Norman, and then the Accabellas Singers will entertain
2.30 - 3 Saxshop (saxophone workshop)
3 - 3.45 Quicksand Dance Band
3.45 - 5 Chichester Jazz Course Students

25 April 2010

Zone Olympics

We really didn't do very well last night. The fourth event in the Zone Olympics was a kurling competition. Yes, that IS kurling with a "k", not a "c": kurling, unlike curling, takes place indoors and the "stones", with ball-bearing-like runners, are slid along a sports hall floor. Otherwise, there would appear to be little difference. Our team of six, split into three pairs, managed to come joint last out of seven. The trouble was that the Brighton players were quite unable to judge the correct strength with which to propel the stones and usually managed to go straight over the target and hit the back wall. Despite this dismal performance (which was, in truth, mirrored by other teams), Brighton Lions have managed to hold onto their place at the top of the league table, although their lead has now been reduced to just two points with three more events to go. The full table is produced in the May issue of Jungle Jottings.

24 April 2010

Diamond Jubilee

Lions Clubs in Great Britain celebrate their Diamond Jubilee this year and a special supplement to the LION magazine has been published to commemorate this. Reading this, it becomes apparent that members of Brighton Lions Club played an enormous part in spreading Lionism through these islands.

23 April 2010

Easter egg raffles

We bought 15 large - very large - Easter eggs which were distributed to golf clubs, banks, pubs etc to be raffled in aid of Leo House. To date, £882 has been raised and there is still some money to come in.

22 April 2010

Assistance dogs

The Club has agreed to pay for the care of two assistance dogs, Evy and Tangle, for another year at a cost of £1,918. This is the third year that we have sponsored these two dogs which have been placed with Brighton residents by Dogs for the Disabled.

17 April 2010

Lilac Lark

The Lilac Lark fete is supposed to be held while the lilacs are in bloom. Given the bad winter we have just experienced, everything was at one time supposed to be almost a month behind and we were getting worried that the lilac blossom would not be out in time. Checking on it this morning, some bushes seem to be catching up so there is still hope.



As well as the dog show, there will be face painting, a caricaturist, a shooting gallery, coconut shy, pig racing, honey, sweets and handicraft stalls, tombola, bric-a-brac - all sorts of fun and games. Three weeks tomorrow, Sunday 9 May, 1.00pm till 5.00pm, Withdean Park.

15 April 2010

Charter Night

Our 59th Charter Anniversary dinner and dance is to be held on 5 June in the Terrace Room at Courtlands Hotel, The Drive, Hove. The menu is:

Starters:
Traditional prawn cocktail presented with continental leaves and napped with a piquante Marie Rose sauce
or
Avocado, tomato and mozzarella salad drizzled with a lemon and herb balsamic dressing.

Main course:
Pan fried supreme of chicken dressed with lemon, thyme and smoked bacon sauce
or
Escalope of Scottish salmon resting on a creamed leek served with a coriander cream sauce
or
Spinach and chestnut mushroom panache presented with a Stilton cream sauce

All served with roast potatoes & seasonal vegetables.

Dessert:
Sticky toffee pudding served with pouring cream
or
Lemon posset.

Coffee (or tea) and mints to follow, with dancing after.

There will be a booking form in the May issue of Jungle Jottings.

17 March 2010

Tonight's decisions

We have agreed to make a donation of £600 to the 9th Brighton Boys Brigade Company to assist with the running costs of their minibus. The fund day in the Royal Pavilion Gardens in June will be in aid of Downs View School and we have pledged £3,000 to them for thier playground project conditional on them raising the balance of the funds needed.

13 March 2010

Peace Poster Winner



Yu-Min Chen, a 13-year-old girl from Taiwan, Republic of China, created this year's winning poster in the annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest.

Chen said she wanted her poster to "show that children hope to live in a peaceful world."

About 350,000 children ages 11, 12 and 13 in 70 countries around the world participated in this contest. Her poster was chosen for its originality, artistic merit and portrayal of this year's contest theme, "The Power of Peace."

11 March 2010

Zone Olympics

The third event in the Zone Olympics, a competition between the clubs in Zone 2A, was held yesterday. This was a ten-pin bowling match which was wone by a team from Newhaven, Peacehaven and Seaford Lions Club. In second place was a team from Brighton - just two points behind - so we have retained our place at the top of the league table.

06 March 2010

And back out again!

Patcham Under 14s played Meadow Sports Under 14s (sponsored by Guildford Lions Club) last night. Meadow were too strong for the host team and won by 9 goals to 1. It was little consolation to the lads from Patcham that the team Meadow had beaten in the previous round had conceded 14 goals, so Patcham had at least done better than that.

03 March 2010

Patcham back in!

Horley having pulled out of the MD U14 International Football Competition, Patcham United have been reinstated aand are now playing the team sponsored by Guildford Lions in Round 2. The match will take place this coming Friday, at Waterhall, Brighton, with an 8.00pm kick off.

02 March 2010

Relief for Chile

Lions Clubs International Foundation is committed to aiding communities affected by disasters, including the most recent disaster in Chile following an 8.8 earthquake on February 27. The earthquake is one of the largest ever recorded, and more than 700 people are dead and 2 million people displaced as a result of the devastation to more than 1 million residences. The earthquake hit near the second largest city, Conception, and more than 60 earthquake aftershocks have been recorded.

"Many of you know firsthand how quickly the Foundation acts after disaster," said LCIF Chairperson Al Brandel. "I have tried to call and sent messages to our two Past International Directors who live in Concepcion, but have not been able to reach them yet. LCIF staff and I will continue to try to contact them, as well as the District Governors and Council Chairperson of Multiple District T."

There are four districts in Chile, and three emergency grants each for $10,000 have been awarded to Districts T-1, T-2 and T-3. District T-3 includes the city of Conception, the hardest hit area in the country. Lions Clubs International Foundation awards approximately US$2 million each year in emergency grant funding, in addition to grants for larger disasters.

As more information is known after contacting the Lions in Chile, it will be posted to this Web page.

A designated account has been created for those wishing to make donations specifically for Chile earthquake relief.
Donors can:

* Donate online at www.lcif.org/donate. Select Disaster and include “Chile Earthquake Relief” in the comments section.

* Make a credit card donation with a MasterCard, Visa or American Express. Fax the following information to LCIF: name, address, phone number, credit card type, credit card number, expiration date, and amount of the donation. If you are a Lions member, please provide your clubs information. LCIF's fax number is (630) 571-5735.

* Mail LCIF a U.S. dollar check drawn on a U.S. financial institution. Make the check payable to Lions Clubs International Foundation, noting "Chile Earthquake Relief" in the memo. Please send the check to LCIF, 300 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook, IL 60523, USA, Attn.: Donor Services.

* Make a direct deposit of local currency into an existing LCI account. Send a copy to LCIF via fax to (630) 571-5735.

* Do a direct wire transfer. For assistance with this option please contact LCIF Donor Assistance at donorassistance@lcif.org.
* Complete the single or multiple donor disaster donation form.

For questions, please contact LCIF at donorassistance@lcif.org or (630) 203-3836. Board policy states that designated funds are not eligible for Melvin Jones Fellowship credit. Donors wishing to receive Melvin Jones Fellowship credit may wish to consider instead making a donation to the LCIF general fund. Un-designated donations for MJFs and PMJFs make up as much as 80 percent of the donations to the Foundation's general fund, which supports standard grants, emergency grants and major catastrophe grants.

Donations from U.S. residents are tax deductible. Donations from residents of other countries are tax deductible as permitted by the individual's country tax laws.

28 February 2010

Haiti earthquake update

Lions Clubs in the British Isles have already donated £175,000, with a further Euro 76,000 from Ireland

Lions Clubs from across the British Isles and Ireland have continued their busy fund raising and making donations to our Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) to provide immediate response aid to the people of Haiti.

Simultaneously, the 45,000 Lions Clubs and their 1.3 million members across the world were also responding with US$ 2 million provided by Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), which has ensured the immediate needs are met with supplies of water, food and medical supplies and distributed by Haitian Lions and Leo Clubs to a hospital and orphanage. The Lions Clubs of the adjacent Dominican Republic have also been making a major contribution by providing us with an additional logistical routing by ferrying contributed supplies across the border to Haiti.

Lions Clubs Haitian Zone Chairperson William Eliacin’s initial desperation turned to hope and gratitude for the people of Haiti when he learned of the great outpouring of support from Lions around the world. He said, “We want to show the Lions and the Haitian people in general that the Lions Club is an extraordinary organization, that we are here and that our motto is, “We Serve”. We serve our peers, we serve our brothers who are in need. That is why we are here. So I am appealing to you. You can count on us to achieve as much as we can with your contribution to help those who are in need.”

Haitian Lions have established three tent cities, each capable of providing accommodation for 1,200 people in Delmas, Blanchard and Carrefour-Feuille and have continued to provide the essential support to maintain them.

LCIF is also partnering with shipping company Maersk , to ship tents, donated by the Lions Clubs of Sweden, and food donated by the World Food Programme, to Haiti free of charge. Further discussions are in progress with other relief agencies.
Whilst currently focussing on immediate needs and the continued provision of supplies, Lions Clubs are also developing, together with Lions Club members from the local area, a long-term plan for reconstruction. Amongst projects being considered are building a school and an ophthalmic clinic.

LCIF Chairperson Al Brandel and Dr. Maureen Murphy visited the area in January to help deliver supplies and meet with Lions to develop a long-term plan. They returned on February 24 for a two-day visit, along with LCIF staff, of Port au Prince, Haiti. They will visit all three tent cities that Lions have helped established, view the devastated areas to assess needs, meet with several non-governmental organizations to discuss collaboration efforts and leveraging of resources, meet with the Mayor of Port au Prince and U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, and work with Lions to develop a long-term relief strategy.

Lions Clubs in the British Isles and Ireland have appointed a Disaster Response Committee to develop plans for our contribution to the overall long term needs, in conjunction with LCIF, by investigating and financing a specific rehabilitation project.

Donations can be made in confidence to LCIF, as 100 percent of every donation will go directly to Haiti relief, as administrative costs are paid by interest earned on investments. LCIF just recently received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the highest rating possible from the independent charity evaluator. In 2007 LCIF was named the #1 non-governmental organization to partner with, a title our Foundation still holds today. Our Foundation has been added to several lists of reputable organizations assisting the area.

24 February 2010

Patcham United 0: Bad weather 1

The Under 14 team from Patcham United, who we have sponsored in the Multiple District Football Competition, were due to play Horley in the first round. Unfortunately, the very wet weather has made it impossible to arrange a pitch and the result had to be decided by drawing lots. Horley go through to the next round. Let's hope for better luck next year.

18 February 2010

And two more

Two more outlets in the Message in a Bottle scheme:
  • Day Lewis Harper Pharmacy, 12 Hollingbury Place, Brighton;
  • Matlock Pharmacy, 12 Matlock Road, Brighton.

There should be some more soon.

15 February 2010

Message in a Bottle

We now have two further outlets for the bottle: the Coldean Pharmacy in Beatty Avenue and Kamson's in the Highway, Moulsecoomb. In case you don't know about the scheme, check out the page on our web site right here.

10 February 2010

Skills for Life

Lions Clubs across the country support an organisation known as Tacade which produces educational materials useful in teaching about drugs, alcohol etc. It was formerly the Teachers' Advisory Council for Alcohol and Drug Education, or something very similar. Their web site can be accessed right here. We are happy to buy the material for local schools and have just agreed to buy I Am, I Know, I Can for Whitehawk Primary School.

07 February 2010

Brighton Lions' Double First

We came away from the District Convention with not just one, but TWO trophies having won the Travelling Lion competition and having been judged as having the best club website in the District. Visit our prize-winning website here.

05 February 2010

Lilac Lark

Brighton Lions have agreed to team up with the Friends of Withdean Park to organise the 4th Lilac Lark, which will be on Sunday, 9th May, from 2.00pm till 5.00pm in Withdean Park. The Friends had decided against holding the Lark, a Fringe event of Brighton Festival, in 2010 because of the difficulty in finding enough volunteers to organise and run the fete. The Lions felt that this was an opportunity to provide community service at the same time as raising funds for their own charitable purposes.

More details in due course.

Fragrant begonias

Not ordered yours yet? There's still time, but best not to hang around too long. If you don't know what it's all about, full details are on our web site here.

23 January 2010

Jungle Jottings

The February issue of Jungle Jottings, the club newsletter, has now been uploaded and can be read in pdf format right here.

22 January 2010

21 January 2010

More donations

At its meeting last night, 20 January, the club agreed to make the following donations:
  • £1,000 to Lions Clubs International Foundation for the Haitian earthquake appeal;
  • £1,000 to Downs View, a special school in Brighton;
  • the second year's grant of £1,000 to a potential Paralympic athlete.

14 January 2010

Haitian earthquake

Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Lions Clubs International Foundation (the charitable arm if Lions Clubs International) has awarded a US$50,000 Major Catastrophe Grant to help provide for immediate needs for victims of the devastating earthquake. LCIF is in contact with Lions in Haiti, as well as neighboring Latin American countries and Lions leadership in the area, to assess the situation and determine immediate needs and how Lions and LCIF can best assist further.

12 January 2010

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible

Many people have been affected by the bad weather over the last week, and it has led to some curtailment of our normal activities. Transport should have been provided today for blind people to attend their monthly social meeting, but that has had to be cancelled. Our bingo session at Lions Dene tomorrow evening has also been cancelled. Many of our members are still unable to get their cars onto the road and Friday's bingo session at Evelyn Glennie House may well turn out to be another casualty of the snow.

06 January 2010

Lions International Blood Research Appeal

LIBRA is supported by Brighton Lions and funds research into blood-related diseases carried out at Kings College Hospital, London. An article published in the Daily telegraph this week reads:

British researchers have developed a treatment that can be used to stop the disease returning after chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant.

Eventually it is hoped the drug, which activates the body's own immune system against the leukaemia, could be used to treat other types of cancers.

The first patients will be treated in the New Year as part of a small clinical trial at King's College London.

The patients in the trial have the form known as Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), the most common form in adults. Even with aggressive treatment half would usually find the disease returns.

The idea behind cancer 'vaccines" is not necessarily to prevent the disease. Instead, once a patient has been diagnosed, the 'vaccine' programmes the immune system to hunt down cancer cells and destroy them.

The vaccine then prompts the immune system to recognise leukaemia cells if they return which prevents a relapse of the disease.

The vaccine is created by removing cells from the patient's blood and manipulating them in the laboratory.

The cells are given two genes which act as flags to help identify the leukaemia. It effectively focuses and boosts the immune system's ability to seek out and destroy cancer cells.

The research is due to be published in the Journal of Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy shortly.

Leukaemia is a cancer of the white blood cells and bone marrow and affects around 7,200 patients a year. Around 4,300 die from the disease annually.

Treatment comes in two stages - chemotherapy to rid the body of the disease, then to prevent it returning either further chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant.

Latest survival rates show that more than half the people with leukaemia die within five years of diagnosis.

The study led by Professors Ghulam Mufti and Farzin Farzaneh and Dr Nicola Hardwick at University College London, has involved intricate work to develop a man-made virus, similar to HIV, which carries the two genes into the immune system.

Prof Farzaneh, Professor of Molecular Medicine at King's College London, said if the trials are successful then it could "rolled out" to treat other leukaemias and cancers.

"It is the same concept as normal vaccines. The immune system is made to see something as foreign and can then destroy it itself. This has the chance to be curative."

In the initial stages patients will be enrolled in the trial if they have had chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.

If early trials are successful the vaccine may be tested in patients who cannot have a bone marrow transplant because they are unsuitable or a match cannot be found.

Dr David Grant, scientific director of the charity Leukaemia Research, said: "Vaccines against cancer are becoming a very interesting area of research and can offer a very beneficial alternative to punishing chemotherapy.

"However it is very early days and we need to see the results of these trials before we know if this potential is going too be realised."

The research was carried out at the King's College London Experimental Cancer Centre, which is one of 17 new centres across the country launched to develop basic science into treatments for patients as quickly as possible.

The study follows successful experiments on mice with leukaemia which showed that injection with a vaccine extended their lives by the equivalent of 25 years.

Half of the mice had no relapse at all.