A HUDDERSFIELD furniture manufacturer has pledged £30,000 over the next three years to Cancer Research UK.

Family-owned Ellis Furniture has donated more than £100,000 in its long- standing history and is keen to keep the link with the charity alive.

The renewed commitment is being used to help PhD student Anastasia Filia research melanoma, bowel and testicular cancers in order to identify new ways to diagnose and treat the disease.

Anastasia is based in Professor Tim Bishop’s genetic epidemiology research programme at the University of Leeds and her specific research objective is to analyse melanoma tumours and develop a new technique to extract DNA for genetic testing.

Company director Richard Ellis said: “Supporting important charitable work is something our family started many years ago and it’s something that remains close to our hearts.

“We’ve been involved with some form of charitable work throughout our 120-year history of manufacturing in Huddersfield.

“With so many worthy causes out there it can be difficult to choose between them.

“We chose to support Leeds Cancer Research UK as it’s in our local region, and because of the invaluable role the charity plays in funding research into cancer, which is unfortunately a widespread disease.”

Fellow director Tom Ellis added: “As a family-owned business with 200 employees we appreciate the importance of our team, our local community and wider society and that’s why it’s very important to us that we give something back.

“One way in which we do this is via direct donations to our local Leeds Cancer Research UK branch.”

Russell Delew, director of major giving and appeals for Cancer Research UK, said: “We are thrilled to have received such generous support from Ellis Furniture for our work in Leeds.

“The support we receive from Ellis Furniture and others allows Cancer Research UK to fund over £8m of world-class research every year in Leeds on key areas such as children’s cancers, lung cancer, leukaemia and lymphoma.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to Ellis Furniture for their continued and long-standing support towards this vital work.”