The trust was established in 1996 and commemorates Ben Walton and his year-long fight against oral cancer.
Ben was born at Kitleyknowe, near Carlops, and attended West Linton Primary School and Peebles High School. Ben attended Aberdeen University where he was studying Honours Psychology; in his final year, at the time of his death on 9 December 1995, he was 22 years old.
Too few people have heard of oral cancer. It is a relatively rare disease compared to some of the more well known cancers with 5325 new cases diagnosed in 2006. Globally it is the sixth most common cancer. However, since the 1980's the number of oral cancers in the UK has risen each year.
No other cancer has shown such a rapid rise in incidence in the past 25 years. The most recent data suggests a rise of 41% over a ten year period. In contrast, lung cancer has decreased over this period.
Oral cancer is on the increase amongst young men and women and most importantly the five year survival rate is less than 50% - because many of these cancers are advanced before they are diagnosed. This survival rate is lower than for melanoma and breast cancer.
Early detection is vital and can lead to a significantly improved survival rate.
Remember, most mouth conditions are not cancerous.
The combination of the first two factors considerably heightens the risk.
However, among younger patients in particular, these traditional causes do not always seem to apply.