Michelle Mitchell says Cancer Research UK has already had to scale back its work due to a decline in income
The coronavirus outbreak has already affected many of Cancer Research UK’s key fundraising activities, and we know the potential impact on our work to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer could be huge.
There’s no doubt that this global pandemic is going to cause huge strain on charities in the coming months. People affected by cancer will be facing difficult situations because they’re particularly vulnerable, or because their treatment is being affected by the knock-on impact in the health service, and our priority is making sure we can support them during these unprecedented times.
While many things are still uncertain, it’s clear that Cancer Research UK will be hit hard. We’ve worked quickly to understand how Covid-19 will impact our income, and therefore our ability to continue funding our life-saving work.
We made a decision to protect our volunteers and our supporters by closing our shops and postponing many events. Whilst the right thing to do, this will have huge implications for our fundraising, and we expect to see a 20 – 25% decline in fundraising income in the next financial year. It’s essential that we respond, and quickly, and this has led to some difficult decisions. We’ve already deferred our spring research grant funding round, and we’re making further cuts to our research funding. This is uncomfortable for us, but we must be realistic about what we can deliver given the current circumstances.
Coronavirus continues to put pressure on the NHS and Cancer Research UK is doing what it can to help. A number of our labs up and down the country are supplying essential equipment and expertise to aid the testing effort, and we’ve released some of our clinical workforce to return to the NHS frontline. We’re also working with health systems across the four nations, and other cancer charities, to provide the best support and advice to cancer patients.
We remain tirelessly committed to making progress for people affected by cancer, but we face more tough decisions and difficult times ahead. We simply won’t be able to continue funding our life-saving work without support from both the government and the public – we need you all now more than ever.
Michelle Mitchell is chief executive of Cancer Research UK. You can donate to the charity online.
