Why join Glory Oatway / Macmillan Cancer Support ?

Community fundraising volunteers are vital to our work. As well as raising funds, you are in regular contact with the people we support. What you say about Macmillan means more than any advert ever could. That’s why we’ve created this leaflet, which is filled with key facts about Macmillan.

Who we are

As you’re no doubt aware, one in three of us will get cancer. It’s a common disease. So common that two million people are now living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis, and this number is growing by the day. We’re there for someone from the time they suspect they have cancer, during their treatment, and for as long as we’re needed after that. We also support carers, friends and family members. In fact, we want to reach and improve the lives of everyone living with cancer, no matter who they are, what part of the country they live in or what kind of cancer they have. Today, over 800 people in the UK will be told they have cancer. We’ll make sure they don’t have to face it alone.

How we make a difference

We offer support We help anyone affected by cancer find their way through the system to get the support they need. We fund nurses and other health and social care professionals. We provide emotional support and free, high-quality cancer information about the disease and how to live with it - including our 118 information centres and nurse helpline. And we provide financial help and support through our benefits helpline, offering practical assistance, helping people fill in forms and enabling them to claim the benefits they are entitled to. We accelerate change As the needs of people with cancer change, so do we. We listen to how people have been affected by cancer and work together to improve cancer care. We push governments and other organisations to provide better cancer care. And we innovate and develop new services according to feedback from people affected by cancer. This could mean anything from changing the way people are welcomed into a clinic or changing the design of hospital gowns, to trial ling new approaches to enable people to gain control of their lives.

We’re determined to ensure that cancer care is given the same priority as research into treatments and cures. Because the way we see it, improving quality of life matters as much as quantity of life.

How we are changing lives

We rely totally on voluntary donations. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to offer the vital services we do now, never mind the ones we need to fund in the future.

Large or small, every donation adds up:

• Reliable information is crucial in helping people with cancer make decisions and feel more in control. £1 can ensure someone receives clear, accurate leaflets on their cancer and where they can get the support they need.
• Dealing with the changes that cancer brings can be a lonely experience. That’s where support groups can help. They give people the chance to talk about their cancer with those who’ve had a similar experience, helping them feel more positive, understood and reassured. £40 can enable a cancer support group to hold their first meeting.
• Some cancer treatments can leave people feeling the cold more acutely. £300 can fund a grant to help someone living with cancer keep their heating on when they really need it.
• The Macmillan CancerLine is a telephone support helpline providing essential information, practical and emotional support. Approximately £8,000 can pay to operate CancerLine for one week.
• Our nurses are specially trained to help people with cancer, and their carers and families. They give much-needed information on cancer treatments and side effects, support people emotionally and advise other members of the team such as district nurses. Around £49,000 would help us fund a Macmillan nurse (including costs such as recruitment and training).

What we achieved in 2008

You helped us achieve many great things in 2008. Accomplishments that will make a difference to much of the UK’s population for years to come.

• You helped us raise approximately £118.6 million. This meant that we could spend more money than ever on delivering essential services to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.
• We gave approximately £9.8 million in grants to people affected by cancer
• Our nurse information helpline helped 32,998 people with questions about cancer types, treatments and what to expect following a diagnosis.
• Our healthcare professionals provided face-to-face support to 432,400 people.
• We successfully campaigned to abolish prescription charges for cancer patients in England and Northern Ireland, following similar victories in Scotland and Wales. This means that from next year no-one in the UK living with cancer or its consequences will have to pay prescription charges. That’s a saving of around £100 per person every year.
• We helped to get hospital parking charges scrapped for people with cancer in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We’re now pushing England to follow suit.

Thanks to our awareness campaign on TV, in the press and online, over 7,000 people contacted us for help last autumn. 69% of these had never contacted us before - which means we are reaching more people than ever before.

2009 and beyond

Many of us will feel the bite of the current economic climate in 2009. And it will be especially tough for people affected by cancer who rely on organisations such as Macmillan. Fortunately, we know what it takes to make a real and lasting difference. It takes us, you, and donations from generous supporters.

To put it simply, our work just wouldn’t be possible without the volunteers who help in our offices, in our information and support centres, who raise both awareness and money and who use their cancer experience to help improve care.
This year, let’s make an even bigger difference so that more people can live full lives with cancer. That way, life can stop being all about cancer and just be about ... life.

For more information

• If you have any questions about what we do and how you can help, just ask your fundraising manager.
• For all the latest facts about Macmillan, visit be.macmillan.org.uk/learn
• And, last but not least, check out macmillan.org.uk

Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). MAC12394