How donations are used
We seek funds in, and for, the short and long term. The website is at the heart of our operation to fulfil our objectives of providing information & support; and raising awareness. The initial outlay for this was significant but running costs are falling in Year 2. We now advertise on the web using GoogleAds (for those "Googling" CUP and related terms) and whilst this costs us in the region of £100 a month it is increasing the hits to our website from CUP-concerned people from around the world.
In the short term we spend also some money on promoting our existence, as part of promoting awareness of CUP. For example, we advertise in the Law Society Gazette to seek legacies and occasionally in other magazines to raise general awareness.
Through partnerships with others we can minimise expenditure. In relation to our current projects not all require funding by us. It is important to note that Medical Research costs millions of pounds and is outside our reach. We can have a greater impact on, the equally important, social science research projects such as understanding patient and carer needs. We seek to fund small high impact projects, but even these are expensive. (The research project we are involved in, lead by Southampton University, which is costing some £80,000, was proposed to the Dimbleby Cancer Care Research Fund who have agreed to sponsor the research.) The data from such research are highly valued by clinicians to aid treatment management and palliative care; and there is a huge knowledge gap in this area with regard to CUP.
A significant item of expenditure was the CUP conference in 2009 which brought together clinicians, researchers and others interested in CUP from across the world. We are most grateful to publishing company Pan Macmillan and other companies who gave their support to the conference.
We run a "tight ship" and keep our administrative expenses to a minimum. The Trustees and Staff are unpaid and we have no salaries. The office is run from the volunteer Director's home and we have no costs for heat, light, office, etc. We do have some administrative costs e.g. insurance for public liability, postage and travel. We also pay fees to enable charitable giving through the website JustGiving but for a small outlay this raises a significant amount of money for Jo's friends. Overall, with low admin costs we can focus on our charitable objectives through the website and the significant projects that we undertake.
Message board
Pan Macmillan, one of the largest general book publishers in the UK, nominated Jo's friends as their charity of the year in 2009 and 2010.
Events
Phil’s half marathon, with a matching donation from employer HBOS, raises some £2,000
