Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation.[2][3] It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom[1] and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.[4] Cancer Research UK conducts research using both its own staff and grant-funded researchers. It also provides information about cancer and runs campaigns aimed at raising awareness and influencing public policy.[5][6][7]
Founded
4 February 2002
- England and Wales: 1089464
- Scotland: SC041666
- Isle of Man: 1103
- 2 Redman Place London E20 1JQ
Michelle Mitchell (CEO)
Charles Swanton (Chief Clinician)
Ketan J. Patel (Chief Scientist)
4591 (2023)[1]
25,000 (2023)[1]
Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF)
The Cancer Research Campaign (CRC)
The organisation's work is almost entirely funded by the public. It raises money through donations, legacies, community fundraising, events, retail and corporate partnerships. Over 25,000 people are regular volunteers.[1]
History[edit]
The Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) was founded in 1902 as the Cancer Research Fund, changing its name to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in 1904. It grew over the next twenty years to become one of the world's leading cancer research charities.[8] Its executive committee was chaired by Sir William Church from its inception in 1902 until 1923.[9] Its flagship laboratories formerly at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, and Clare Hall, Hertfordshire, and known as the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, are now part of the Francis Crick Institute.[2]
The British Empire Cancer Campaign (BECC) was founded in 1923, and initially drew a hostile response from ICRF and the Medical Research Council, who considered it a rival.[8][10] "The Campaign", as it was colloquially known, became a very successful and powerful grant-giving body. In 1970, the charity was renamed The Cancer Research Campaign (CRC).[10]
Incorporated on 20 November 2001,[11] the two organisations officially merged on 4 February 2002 to form Cancer Research UK, the largest independent cancer research organisation in the world (the largest, the National Cancer Institute, is funded by the US Government).[12][13] At the time of the merger, the ICRF had an annual income of £124m, while the CRC had an income of £101m.[12]
Based on article share during the period between January 2015 to August 2019, Nature listed Cancer Research UK in the top 150 of the Top 200 institutions in cancer research in the world.[14]
CRUK had an income of £718,793,138 and expenditure of £640,845,146 for the financial year ending in 31 March 2023.[15]
Other charitable activities[edit]
Information services[edit]
Through Cancer Health UK, a website written in Plain English, it provides information on cancer and cancer care, and a unique clinical trials database.[4] A team of nurses provides a confidential telephone service, the Cancer Chat forum provides a place for users to talk to others affected by cancer, and mobile cancer awareness units deliver health information to locations of high cancer incidence and mortality. It provides statistical information via the Cancer Stats section. It also provides publications for the public to order and download.
Cancer Research UK publishes a twice-monthly professional medical journal, the British Journal of Cancer.
Influencing public policy[edit]
The charity worked to bring about the smoking ban in England and continues to campaign for further action on smoking.[37] The charity lobbies for better screening programmes and advises on access to new cancer medicines.
Income sources include:
On 18 July 2012, it was announced that Cancer Research UK was to receive its largest single donation of £10 million from an anonymous donor. The money went towards the £100 million funding for the Francis Crick Institute in London.[40]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, CRUK closed its shops and cancelled mass participation fundraising events. They predicted that this, coupled with economic uncertainty affecting people's ability or willingness to donate, would lead to a 30% fall in income that year and a reduction in income lasting at least 3 years.[41]
Criticism[edit]
In June 2011, Cancer Research UK was one of several health charities (along with the British Heart Foundation, the Alzheimer's Society and Parkinson's UK) targeted by the animal rights organisation Animal Aid in a series of advertisements in British newspapers urging members of the public to stop giving donations to organisations that fund medical research involving animal experiments.[42][43]
In April 2017, the Information Commissioner's Office fined eleven charities that breached the Data Protection Act by misusing donors’ personal data. Cancer Research UK was fined £16,000.[44]