Leukaemia UK grows fundraising team as part of new strategy

Leukaemia UK is growing its fundraising team as part of its new strategy.

Through its new strategy and with their supporters’ help, Leukaemia UK hopes to treble its investments in life-changing initiatives over the next five years.

Leukaemia UK aims to continue to strengthen its existing relationships whilst diversifying its fundraising portfolio, developing new products and campaigns and investing in key areas of growth such as legacies and corporate fundraising.

2022 will also see the return of the charity's fundraising event, Who’s Cooking Dinner?, which had to be put on hold in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year the event, which has already raised over £7 million for blood cancer research since its inception in 1999, will take place in September to coincide with Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

The charity is the result of the merger between Leuka and Leukaemia UK at the end of 2019. Now, the charity says has a new vision: to go further than ever to stop leukaemia devastating lives.

By expanding its UK-wide research programme and focusing on the needs and experiences of patients, Leukaemia UK hopes to accelerate progress for people impacted by a leukaemia diagnosis.

Paul Abbott, director of Income at Leukaemia UK, said: “There is an urgent need for increased funding for leukaemia research, helping to improve diagnosis, treatment and care for those who are impacted by the disease. Investing in fundraising will enable Leukaemia UK to become increasingly proactive, leading and influencing the leukaemia landscape at a national level. It’s simple really - the more money raised, the more likely the discovery of kinder and more effective treatments becomes.

“Leukaemia UK understands that income growth takes time, and so the team are encouraged to be curious, to try new things, take risks and be bold. Our income generation strategy is based on two key principles – spreading the risk and investing in our people.

“Spreading the risk means specialising in as many income streams as we can; to be proactive with existing sources whilst developing new income streams – an underperformance in Trusts one year, for example, can be compensated for by an overperformance in Corporate, so it is important to be giving attention to both.

“Investing in our people means taking a whole-person approach to managing and developing the team. Leukaemia UK is without a doubt a flexible and supportive employer. We recognise that the easier we make it for people to work for us, the happier and more productive they will be. Mistakes happen, people have good days and bad. Pets and children get ill. Plumbing emergencies happen. This flexible, understanding approach, along with a fantastic range of additional employment benefits allows me to attract great people who are the essential ingredient in bringing our vision and mission to life.”