Pamela Ballantine gathered her cowboys together - Cois Beukes and Michael McKeever - to launch the Deep RiverRock Annual Summer barbeque with a Wild West theme. The barbeque will be held at the Waterfront Hall on Friday June 29 2007 from 7pm. Coca-Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Ltd. will donate proceeds to Marie Curie Cancer Care and also Caravan - the charity contributing towards the well-being of some 1,300 former grocery trade workers. Photography by Darren Kidd / www.Presseye.com

CANCER is the UK's biggest killer. Every year it claims the lives of more than 150,000 people, with a further one million living with the disease at any one time.

Established in 1948 - the same year as the NHS - Marie Curie Cancer Care is now one of the UK's largest charities.

Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, they provide care to around 25,000 people with cancer every year, along with support for their families.

They also, rarer for people with other life-limiting illnesses. Their services are always free of charge to patients and their families, which means that in 2006-07, they will need to raise more than �100 million.

The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end-of-life care for patients in their own homes. They have 10 hospices across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and two centres for palliative care research.

They also run the world-renowned Marie Curie Research Institute, which investigates the causes and treatments of cancer. For the past three years, Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die at home.

Their campaign � Supporting the Choice to Die at Home � continues to attract widespread support from cancer patients and their families, healthcare professionals and politicians from all parties.

Financially, around 70 per cent of the charity's income comes from the generous support of thousands of individuals, membership organisations and businesses, with the balance of funds coming from the NHS.

They also depend on an army-of volunteers to support their work in both care and fundraising.

The daffodil is the emblem of Marie Curie Cancer Care. Every March they run the Great Daffodil Appeal, with street collections and other fundraising events