I was delighted to hear that the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund has now raised a fantastic £1 million in donations.

Donors’ amazing generosity has helped the charity provide more than £450,000 in grants for vital research (to date) and many mesothelioma sufferers and their families have benefited from their advice and support.

The charity was the first in the UK set up to raise money for mesothelioma research and I’m sure June herself would have been proud to reach this landmark. We help the charity to keep its overheads low by providing office administration and accounting free of charge, so more of the funds raised can be used to help sufferers and fund research.

I’d like to congratulate those at the charity and hope that their good work continues for years to come. Having represented June in her battle for justice against Turner & Newall I’m pleased that her name and memory lives on in such a positive way.

Sir John Beddington, the Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government and Head of Government Office for Science, has rejected calls to change the classification of chrysotile asbestos.

Sir John was asked to consider “whether there is any evidence that would justify an imminent change to the ‘international scientific consensus on the classification of asbestos’”.

In his findings, Sir John wrote that “it is not possible to determine a threshold level below which exposure to ‘pure’ chrysotile could be deemed ‘safe’ for human health. The same applies for exposure to chrysotile from cement during removal and disposal activities… Therefore it is my opinion that on the evidence available there is no justification for an imminent change to the international scientific consensus on the classification of chrysotile as a Class 1 carcinogen.”

Chrysotile, or white asbestos, is the most commonly encountered form of asbestos. It is currently banned for use in the European Union but was used extensively in the past, including in common building materials such as asbestos cement and Artex.

I welcome Sir John’s findings and am pleased to see that he is backing the international consensus that chrysotile is an extremely hazardous substance.

I was interested to read recently a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine which concluded that malignant mesothelioma was rare prior to the widespread commercial introduction of asbestos.

The study, carried out by James A. Strauchen, reviewed more than 2,000 autopsies carried out at a hospital in New York City between 1883 and 1910.

Not a single case of malignant mesothelioma was found, which allowed the author to conclude that the disease was rare before widespread commercial use of asbestos became common in the United States.

Whilst many leading experts and the Health and Safety Executive believe that Mesothelioma is closely related to asbestos and many cases,are a result of exposures in occupational settings, Insurers and defendant lawyers have tried to claim in some cases that a client’s mesothelioma was spontaneous. This study supports the argument that a spontaneous mesothelioma is very rare and that exposure to asbestos is much more likely to be the cause of the disease.

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Steve Lee from mesothelioma.

I met Steve through his fundraising work for the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund, of which I am a trustee.

Since he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007, Steve organised fundraising efforts through his running club, the Reading Roadrunners.

In 2009 Steve even ran the Reading half marathon, which took great courage and determination bearing in mind his condition.

Steve helped to raise more than £40,000 for mesothelioma research. The Steve Lee fellowship grant is now funding a London-based mesothelioma research project, which is very fitting and will be a lasting legacy.

Our condolences go out to Steve’s friends and family.

Being a member of the Asbestos in Schools group (AiS) means I have the pleasure of working with Michael Lees. Michael's wife, Gina, died from mesothelioma in 2000 and he believes that exposure to asbestos while she was teaching in schools was to blame.

Since then Michael has campaigned for more to be done to tackle the issue of asbestos in schools. He publishes an informative newsletter on the subject, the latest issue of which focuses on the Coalition Government's attitude to asbestos in schools. You can read the latest newsletter on the asbestos in schools website.