Merged charities set out an ambitious ten year pledge to transform survival rates

Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer have announced they are merging to create the UK's leading bowel cancer charity.

By joining forces the organisations will save lives, improve quality of life and support all those affected by the disease in the UK.

The new single organisation will also accelerate progress to ensure that by 2050 no-one will die from bowel cancer.

The charity has set out an ambitious ten year pledge, which includes transforming survival rates, from only one in every two people surviving bowel cancer over five years, to three out of four people surviving.

Bowel cancer is the UK's second biggest cancer killer with 16,000 people dying from the disease, and yet the disease is preventable, treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early.

The charity will become a legally merged organisation from early January and have a new name and logo unveiled later in the year. It will be headed up by Bowel Cancer UK's current chief executive, Deborah Alsina MBE, and chaired by Patrick Figgis, global leader, health at PwC and a trustee of Beating Bowel Cancer.

The UK's leading bowel cancer charity will start with 65 members of staff from the two charities.

Figgis said: "Both boards of trustees unanimously welcome this merger as the best opportunity to achieve our shared vision of a world where no one dies of bowel cancer.

“As a board we will support the establishment of an ambitious but achievable strategic plan to help us deliver our purpose and realise our ambition. We already have exciting plans for 2018 including awarding our first research grants and digital development of our patient and carer services.”