A group of 20 cancer charities have linked up for a fundraising campaign to help them tackle the “devastating disruption” to their services supporting patients with rare forms of cancer amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The initiative is called ’20 for 20’ and has been inspired by collaborative fundraising that took place during the 2.6 challenge, which replaced the London Marathon earlier this year with alternative activities.

The 20 for 20 campaign has been organised by bone and tissue cancer charity Sacoma UK.

Other charities involved include Target Ovarian Cancer, Cancer52, blood cancer charity DKMS and Brain Tumour Research.

The fundraising push asks the charities’ supporters to take part in any fundraising challenge based around the number 20 across 20 days. This could be running for 20 minutes a day or baking 20 cakes.

Together the charities involved fund around £6m in cancer research each year.

“For countless patients and their families, the charities taking part in 20 for 20 are a lifeline of support, information, campaigning and are funders of research specifically looking into these cancers,” said Cancer52 chief executive Jane Lyons.

“We risk losing this in the long-term if these charities have to further cut what they can do, or worse still, shut. 20 for 20 is a powerful statement about a unique collaboration to bring in some much-needed income that has been lost due to the

Covid-19 pandemic. As a strong collective voice, we believe we can achieve more together than apart.”

Sarcoma UK chief executive Richard Davidson added: “These cancer charities are needed now more than ever. 20 for 20 is a bold attempt to take control of the situation, not as competitors but as partners to make sure we can continue to be there for patients now and crucially, in the future.”

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