Man who coined name for cancer foundation appointed as new chairman

Peter Mileham OBE thought of the name for the Rosemere Cancer Foundation when it was set up to support the newly opened Lancashire and Lakeland Cancer Centre at the Royal Preston Hospital. Patients from across Burnley, Pendle and the Ribble Valley are treated there.

A respected businessman, he coined the name by combining the red rose of Lancashire with the meres of the Lake District.

He was then invited onto the charity’s management committee before his appointment as the National President of the British Chamber of Commerce.

As the Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire he worked with the county’s Lord Lieutenant to bring about a royal visit to the centre when HRH Prince Edward and his wife Sophie came to chat with staff and patients.

More recently, Peter has served on the foundation’s 20 Years anniversary appeal committee, the charity’s most ambitious to date, to raise £1.5 million to fund a trio of ground-breaking projects.

Peter is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire and a trustee of Blackburn Cathedral. He was awarded his OBE in 2016 for services to Lancashire,

Peter, who has two daughters, lost his wife Shelagh to cancer last year and she was a patient at the centre.