Michelle Vickers, Chief Awareness Officer at Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK talks about the importance of charity collaboration and how it has helped the organisation make waves with its Sign Away Cancer Campaign.
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I have been working in the not-for-profit space for over 20 years and have seen first-hand the benefits of collaboration in the charity sector. Partnering with like-minded organisations has many benefits and must not be overlooked.

The charity space is noisy. Each organisation wants to make sure its cause is heard, and the chatter of donation appeals is often hard to wade through. At the same time, household incomes are being stretched and time poverty is becoming an increasing problem for many.

This is something we considered closely when we began working on the Sign Away Cancer campaign. In 2024 Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK set about creating a campaign to challenge people’s perception of the HPV vaccine and educate parents and caregivers who have the important decision to sign their child’s consent form. Our main aim – to increase the uptake of the vaccine. A simple pen-on-paper signature to protect the next generation against the virus.

HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is a common virus that is spread through skin-to-skin contact. An estimated 80% of people will come into contact with HPV in their lifetime. There are two different types of HPV: low risk and high risk. Low risk HPV may not be sexually transmitted and is not associated with the development of cancer. High risk HPV is transmitted through sexual contact and, whilst most of the time this causes no harm, high-risk HPV infections can result in cancers. High risk HPV is linked to the development of head and neck, cervical, vulval, vaginal, anal and penile cancers.

This is where we reached out to the Eve Appeal to discuss a collaboration. HPV vaccine uptake is important to both charities. After thorough discussions, we created a six-month campaign spanning the Thames Valley area and later decided to take it nationwide. We combined our knowledge, resources and contacts to spread awareness and tap into different demographics.

In October 2024 Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK led an event with local school children in Berkshire to produce branding for the campaign. The event took place at Norden Farm in Maidenhead where children around the vaccination age took part in a graffiti workshop to sign a large canvas board. Representatives from the charity spoke with participants’ parents, who carried the message on through word-of-mouth. The event also got picked up in the media. Two months later, representatives of Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK and the Eve Appeal attended a shopping centre in Buckinghamshire to have in-depth conversations with parents and caregivers in the area.

At the same time, the charities joined forces to launch a petition to address the urgent public health crisis. The uptake of the HPV vaccine in the UK remains far behind other countries, with only 65% of boys and 71% of girls receiving the vaccine in 2023.

Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK and the Eve Appeal’s collaboration increased the reach of the project and gave each charity a platform to speak to new audiences.

Next time your charity is launching a campaign, consider other organisations that may align with the cause. There is truth in the concept of ‘strength in numbers’ and the more organisations who become involved in a cause, the more chance it has of being noticed and making a meaningful impact. Our relationship with the Eve Appeal is one which we hope to carry forward in years to come.

The petition remains open and our campaign continues. Follow along here: https://oraclehnc.org.uk/petition-hpv

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