A COUPLE who founded a charity after their daughter died of a brain tumour have been presented with an MBE by The Queen.

Neil and Angela Dickson, from Dogmersfield, were presented their awards on Friday at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Their daughter Samantha died in 1996 aged 16, two-and-a-half years after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Following her death, the couple set up The Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, which was the first charity in the UK dedicated solely to fighting brain tumours.

In 2011 its name changed to The Brain Tumour Charity, shortly before it merged with two other organisations – Brain Tumour UK and the Joseph Foote Foundation.

The Brain Tumour Charity, based in Farnborough, Hampshire, is now the largest dedicated brain tumour charity in the UK and one of the largest in the world.

After receiving the MBE alongside his wife, as the only couple to be honoured, Mr Dickson said: “The Queen said she understood we had set up the charity and done some amazing work for research and support.

“We told her we had turned a negative into a positive.”

Recalling the decision to found the charity after Samantha’s death, he added: “We could never understand why this dreadful disease had been so neglected.

“Every year more than 9,300 people in the UK are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour and thousands more with a secondary tumour. It kills more children and people under 40 than any other cancer.

“We started with a blank sheet of paper in 1996 and have seen the charity grow consistently since then. In that first year we raised £140,000. Last year the figure was £7.1m. That success means we have made a major difference to people diagnosed with the disease.

“When Samantha was ill, we felt totally isolated with no support available. Now, thanks to The Brain Tumour Charity, a vast range of support options is available around the UK for children and adults.”

This includes days out for children with brain tumours and their families to enjoy different activities and get to know each other, and information days for patients living with a brain tumour.

The charity also funds research, which has helped bring about a number of breakthroughs.

Research into the late diagnosis of childhood tumours led to the award-winning HeadSmart campaign.

Since it launched in 2011, the average time it takes to diagnose a child with a brain tumour in the UK has fallen from more than nine weeks to less than seven.

Earlier this month, the charity launched its new strategy, with the ambitions to double survival over ten years and halve the harm that brain tumours cause to quality of life.

Mr Dickson said: “With our track record to date and the major new investment we will provide to achieve this goal, I am confident we can get there.”

Mrs Dickson added: “Neil and I are so honoured to receive our MBEs. Samantha would have been so proud.

“But we could not have done this on our own. We have been privileged to have the support of so many amazing supporters and volunteers.It is this combination of our dedicated hardworking staff and an excellent board of trustees that has made the charity such a success.”