FOOTBALL legend Sir Trevor Brooking CBE was at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford on Thursday (Oct 3) to open a new medical research centre.

The Helen Rollason Research Centre will allow more people to take part in drug trials to develop new medicines and treatments - with the support of a dedicated team of research nurses.

This new centre is a collaboration between The Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust and The Helen Rollason Cancer Charity.

A spokesman for the Trust said: “The opening of the new Helen Rollason Research Centre at Broomfield Hospital is excellent news for patients, and for both organisations, as it will support new research techniques into cancer treatments, as well as other specialities including diabetes and rheumatology.”

The centre is named after the television presenter and fundraiser, Helen Rollason MBE, who died of cancer in 1999. It is a calm, comfortable place for patients to undergo their treatment and is decorated in her favourite colours, blue and yellow.

Sir Trevor, who was a good friend of Helen Rollason, was delighted to open the centre.

“It gives local people access to new treatments right on their doorstep. Helen would have been really chuffed that, twelve years on, Helen Rollason Cancer Charity is still out there raising funds for research into better cancer treatments and helping so many people,” he said.

To find out more about Helen Rollason Cancer Charity, visit helenrollason.org.uk