We raised £2m to rescue a new drug that had shown considerable pre-clinical promise for treating neuroendocrine cancer.

It had been put aside because the researchers at Uppsala University (where the drug had been developed) could not get funding to develop the potential medication further.

Through social media and Indiegogo, and newspapers and radio, we and 2000 other people from around the world raised the money in eight months.

There were no wristbands, no fancy launches and no rock concerts. It was just us and patients and patient advocates.

Traditional funders were not interested in this rare disease and there was no money in it for venture capitalists.

So we cut out the gatekeepers, and appealed straight to the people.