CWGC staff help collect Yew clippings for Chemotherapy treatment
18 June 2012
Twelve CWGC sites across South East England, including Brookwood
Military Cemetery, are to contribute clippings from their Yew
hedges for use in chemotherapy treatment.
The needles are being collected by our staff on behalf of
Limehurst Limited, a harvesting company which supplies the drug
industry with the raw materials.
Clipping the Yew trees is a precise operation, as it is only the
green areas which contain the useful ingredient, whilst wooded
parts can damage machinery. It is also very important to work fast,
so as to prevent the leaves "going off".
The treatment in question is of particular use in fighting
ovarian and breast cancers. First made from the needles of the
European Yew tree, it can now be created synthetically in a
laboratory, however the needles are still used as part of the
process.
Limehurst Limited will be collecting Yew, even in small
quantities, from June until late September 2012.