Worldwide Cancer Research is hoping for a funding boost this Black Friday
A charity is hoping to see a significant funding boost this Black Friday.
Edinburgh-based charity Worldwide Cancer Research is asking Scots to add starting cures for cancer to their shopping lists this Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday as part of a new campaign.
With monetary examples from £10-£1,000, the charity seeks to showcase what the cost of a typical Black Friday pick could mean for lifesaving cancer research.
Bargain lovers worldwide are expected to spend an estimated £6 billion this Black Friday and Cyber Monday - £400 million more than last year. In the UK alone, it’s predicted that shoppers will spend an average of £21 more than last year, with men and 25-34 year-olds likely to spend the most.
But Worldwide Cancer Research is asking that shoppers consider keeping some cash aside for Giving Tuesday (1 December) which rounds off the weekend-long shopping spree.
In 2019, £14.2 million worth of donations were made across the UK on Giving Tuesday – that’s equivalent to £10,000 per minute. And for charities like Worldwide Cancer Research, generous donations like this are more vital than ever this year.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant financial impact on many sectors, including charity-funded medical research, which contributes nearly half of all the funded medical research in the UK – over £1billion per year. The medical research charity sector alone has experienced a 38% loss in its fundraising income, and it’s estimated that it will take the sector 4.5 years to recover.
Worldwide Cancer Research starts new cancer cures throughout the UK and the rest of the world. Since 1979, the charity has funded over £200million worth of research in over 30 countries.
Survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years, yet over 34,000 people are still diagnosed with cancer each year in Scotland – that’s 93 people every single day.
Laura McLachlan, director of marketing and fundraising at Worldwide Cancer Research, said: “We were gearing up for our biggest year of fundraising to date when the pandemic hit in March. However, since then, much of our fundraising has stopped – none of our fundraising events got off the ground in 2020 and our big campaigns had to pause.
“The full extent of how the pandemic has impacted the sector in the long-term remains to be seen, but we are hopeful that the kindness and ingenuity of shoppers this weekend will help get lifesaving cancer research back on track. This weekend is all about big savings - by saving our change this Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) to make a much-needed donation on Giving Tuesday, together we can make sure people with cancer aren’t forgotten because of the ‘other c’.”
Fronting the charity’s campaign and Christmas Appeal is Suzanne Davies – a mum from Scotland living with stage four glioblastoma. In 2014, Suzanne’s consultant told her she’d only have a year to live.
Six years on, Suzanne she said: “I’m so thankful for research and for the treatments, surgery advances, and drugs that were and are available to me. I didn’t think I’d get to see my 40th birthday, let alone see my sister get married and have children of her own. I want to be a grandma and to be able to live my life like I should be able to. And thanks to the generosity of people making lifesaving donations to charities like Worldwide Cancer Research, I might be able to.”
With concerns rising over delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment, it’s more important than ever that cancer research remains a priority to continue making breakthroughs to save lives and stop suffering. For more information about Worldwide Cancer Research or to make a donation, visit: https://www.worldwidecancerresearch.org/donate/
- £1,000 could help pay for a week’s worth of cancer research by a Worldwide Cancer Research scientist.
- £300 could pay for a week’s supply of lab gear used by a Worldwide Cancer Research scientist to carry out experiments.
- £200 could pay for a day’s worth of lifesaving cancer research led by Worldwide Cancer Research scientists all over the world.
- £100 could help a Worldwide Cancer Research scientist conduct experiments studying how cancer cells grow and divide.
