About us

We save lives through earlier diagnosis

• We raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia and work with healthcare professionals such as GPs, dentists and pharmacists to help them spot leukaemia.
• We help people to understand what leukaemia is and that it can affect anyone at any age.

We campaign for access to effective treatments

• We work with the NHS and other organisations to ensure patients can access the best possible treatment for them, and when they can’t – we advocate on their behalf.

We believe people should get the right information when they need it

• We know that diagnosis and treatment can turn your world upside down – we empower people with accredited information, support from clinical nurse specialists and the opportunity to meet patients diagnosed with leukaemia.

We support healthcare professionals to help their patients

• We empower GPs and other healthcare professionals to spot leukaemia through awareness events and online learning.
•  We provide nurses with tailored conferences, online learning and bursaries to enhance their knowledge of leukaemia and patient care

We conduct research to improve patient experience

• We listen to patients, and using the evidence we gather, improve our services and focus our campaigning.

It all began with a group of parents whose children had leukaemia. Sat around a kitchen table, they decided to set up one of the first ever support groups to help others going through a similar situation. What once started as one, we have grown to over 25 support groups across the UK. Leukaemia Care registered with the Charity Commission on 11th September 1969 and has since transformed into a national charity with a passionate team of employees, trustees and, of course, volunteers.

The charity was originally formed as a children’s leukaemia charity. Nearly fifty years later, Leukaemia Care now offers support to people of all ages affected by any blood or lymphatic cancer.

Our Code of Practice

The purpose of our Code of Practice is to provide clear principles and guidance on how we work with the pharmaceutical industry. It enables us to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to achieve our aims and objectives, without compromising our integrity or impacting on the support offered to anybody affected by a blood cancer.

Our Code of Practice was developed to demonstrate the commitment of Leukaemia Care to adhere to consistent and transparent policies. It is intended to minimise the impact of any real, potential or perceived conflict of interest by regulating how we work with, or accept funding from, the pharmaceutical industry.

Leukaemia Care provides information and support to anybody affected by a diagnosis of any blood cancer. As such, we recognise the importance of working collaboratively with all stakeholders with an interest in blood cancers, to ensure that we do our best to meet the needs of patients as well as their carers, families and friends. Working collaboratively with other stakeholders can enable us to achieve our aims and objectives, often providing opportunities to raise awareness of issues and improve the lives of anybody affected by blood cancer.

We recognise that this includes working together with all stakeholders, including members of the pharmaceutical industry. However, it is important that we do so without compromising our integrity or our ability to be independent and unbiased and we recognise the importance of being transparent in all areas of our work.

As Leukaemia Care is a charity, we are dependent on external sources of support to fund our activities. Consequently, we are committed to developing a wide variety of long-term dependable sources of income. Whilst the vast majority of our funding comes from our own fundraising activities and those of our volunteers, any funding we receive from the pharmaceutical industry enables us to provide additional support that would not otherwise be possible.

Accepting funding will often be in the best interests of Leukaemia Care and the people we support, but there may be circumstances when this is not the case. In these circumstances we will adhere to the requirements of this document and eschew any offered funding that may threaten to compromise our independence.

We have developed a Code of Practice to provide clear principles and guidance on how we work with the pharmaceutical industry and to ensure that our relationships are ethical, transparent and reflect positively on both organisations. It ensures we can achieve our aims and objectives without compromising integrity or impacting on our reputation as a credible, independent source of information and opinion.

This promise outlines the commitment made to donors and the public by fundraising organisations which register with the Fundraising Regulator. Those who register with the regulator agree to ensure their fundraising is legal, open, honest and respectful.

The standards for fundraising are set out in the Code of Fundraising Practice.

Commit to high standards

• We will adhere to the Code of Fundraising Practice.
• We will monitor fundraisers, volunteers and third parties working with us to raise funds, to ensure that they comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice and with this Promise.
• We will comply with the law as it applies to charities and fundraising.
• We will display the Fundraising Regulator badge on our fundraising material to show we are committed to good practice.

Be clear, honest & open

• We will tell the truth and we will not exaggerate.
• We will do what we say we are going to do with donations we
• We will be clear about who we are and what we do.
• We will give a clear explanation of how you can make a gift and change a regular donation.
• Where we ask a third party to fundraise on our behalf, we will make this relationship and the financial arrangement transparent.
• We will be able to explain our fundraising costs and show how they are in the best interests of our cause if challenged.
• We will ensure our complaints process is clear and easily accessible.
• We will provide clear and evidence based reasons for our decisions on complaints.

Be respectful

• We will respect your rights and privacy.
• We will not put undue pressure on you to make a gift. If you do not want to give or wish to cease giving, we will respect your decision.
• We will have a procedure for dealing with people in vulnerable circumstances and it will be available on request.
• Where the law requires, we will get your consent before we contact you to fundraise.
• If you tell us that you don’t want us to contact you in a particular way we will not do so. We will work with the Telephone, Mail and Fundraising Preference Services to ensure that those who choose not to receive specific types of communication don’t have to.

Be fair & reasonable

• We will treat donors and the public fairly, showing sensitivity and adapting our approach depending on your needs.
• We will take care not to use any images or words that intentionally cause distress or anxiety.
• We will take care not to cause nuisance or disruption to the public.

Be accountable & responsible

• We will manage our resources responsibly and consider the impact of our fundraising on our donors, supporters and the wider public.
• If you are unhappy with anything we’ve done whilst fundraising, you can contact us to make a complaint. We will listen to feedback and respond appropriately to compliments and criticism we receive.
• We will have a complaints procedure, a copy of which will be available on our website or available on request.
• Our complaints procedure will let you know how to contact the Fundraising Regulator in the event that you feel our response is unsatisfactory.
• We will monitor and record the number of complaints we receive each year and share this data with the Fundraising Regulator on request.

Annual accounts for 2015/16 can be viewed here.

Annual accounts for 2016/2017 can be viewed here.