SOUTH Wales recruitment firm boss Ross Porter has pulled on his running shoes and is in training to run in thee Cardiff Half Marathon in aid of research into pancreatic cancer.

Ross, of Clear Sky Recruitment, which was founded in Blackwood and is headquartered in Cardiff, will be running in the event in October to raise funds for Team Jackie.

The charity is collecting money to help fund research into the disease which figures show is the worst funded of all cancers despite the lowest survival rates

Ross, managing director and founder of Clear Sky Recruitment, lives in Blackwood, where the business retains a base.

He said: “I and other members of the team will be entering the Cardiff Half Marathon to do our bit to help Team Jackie raise as much money as we can to pay for further research into pancreatic cancer.

“As well as looking to raise money for research into pancreatic cancer, Team Jackie is very keen to raise public awareness in general as to the situation around pancreatic cancer. It’s a sad fact that 90 per cent of those diagnosed with the disease will not survive 12 months.”

Team Jackie is named in memory of former HR director Jackie Orme, who lived in Cardiff. The married mother-of-two girls died of pancreatic cancer in 2011, aged 46, just 10 months after being diagnosed.

Husband David Orme, aged 50, said: “There just aren’t many treatment opportunities for pancreatic cancer so when your loved ones are suffering, you feel helpless. The charity work is a way of trying to make a difference and we don't want other children to go through what my girls had to.

“Having a specific project to raise money for was a way of finding hope and it has helped.”

The initial £150,000 raised was used to fund a research project at The University of Manchester.

David said: "Pancreatic cancer only receives about one per cent of the cancer funding but it is the fifth biggest killer. While the survival rates of a lot of cancers have improved significantly, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer has not improved in 40 years.

“But even with that in mind, Jackie never gave up hope. She didn’t want to die without having tried everything.”

Team Jackie is aiming to recruit a team of some 75 runners to run on its behalf in the 2016 Cardiff Half.

For more details of how to support Team Jackie visit www.teamjackie.co.uk