CANCER

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research 1 

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2014 

HOW WE’RE 

BEATING BLOOD 

CANCER 

Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements 

for year ended 31 March 2015

Bloodwise 2 

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2015 

On 2 April 2015 Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research was 

registered with Companies House as Bloodwise and this 

change was also made with the Charity Commission 

and OSCR, the Scottish charity regulator. We’ll continue 

to operate as Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research until 

September 2015. 

The decision to change our name was made by our Trustees 

on 19 March 2015, following a robust review process over 

an 18 month period, coupled with a two-year research 

programme into the needs of patients. 

We chose Bloodwise because it embraces all blood cancer 

patients: there are over 100 different blood cancers and 

related disorders. It unites everything we do, from our 

research to our patient support services and fundraising. 

It’s a brand new word, dedicated to people affected by 

blood cancer. 

Research remains central to all that we do. In the coming 

months and years we’ll show the world what it means to be 

Bloodwise – and create a movement of Bloodwise people. 

Bloodwise trading as Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Company limited by guarantee 738089 

Registered charity 216032 (England & Wales) SC037529 (Scotland)

Bloodwise 3 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

OUR YEAR AT A GLANCE 4 

THANK YOU FROM OUR CHAIRMAN 5 

ACHIEVING OUR VISION 6 

STRATEGIC REPORT 7 

HOW WE WORK 43 

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES 47 

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 48 

GROUP STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES 50 

BALANCE SHEETS 52 

CASH FLOW 53 

ACCOUNTING POLICIES 54 

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS 56 



INTRODUCTION 

Bloodwise 4 


Our year at 

a glance 

OUR INCOME 

FINANCIAL YEAR 2015 

Total income £20,588,000 

1.1% 

2.8% 

6.9% 


Total income £21,656,000 

1.2% 

1.5% 

7.1% 

Voluntary income 

Legacies 

30.3% 

58.9% 

31.4% 

58.8% 

Retail 

Research income 

Investment and other income 

OUR EXPENDITURE 


Total expenditure £31,561,000 

Expenditure – FY15 


Total expenditure £26,565,000 

4.8% 0.6% Expenditure – FY14 

3.1% 0.9% Cost of generating funds 

19.9% 

22.1% 

74.7% 

73.9% 

Charitable – research 

Charitable – patient experience 

Governance 



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Thank you from our 

chairman 

2015 marks the 55th anniversary of Leukaemia & 

Lymphoma Research. Since we began in 1960 we have 

invested £500 million in research and helped to save 

and improve the lives of very many patients. 

This year has been an exceptional year in the 

progress that we have made for patients, but we are 

disappointed to end the year with a reduction in 

income. 

Two years ago we began to think about what the future 

for patients should look like and our role in making 

this happen. After the unimaginable advances over 

the last 55 years could we beat blood cancer in this 

lifetime? 

During this period of review we have conducted the 

most comprehensive research ever into the needs of 

patients. This has involved 19 focus groups in cities 

across the UK, one to one interviews with patients and 

health professionals and a landmark national survey 

that thousands of people have completed. 

We have also conducted market research about 

awareness of our charity, consulted with diverse 

stakeholder groups across our organisation and given 

very careful consideration to the role our name can 

and should play in our future success. 

The findings from this research, like much of our 

research, were frankly revelatory and have helped us 

to shape our future plans with clarity and conviction. 

›› 

Changing the name of our charity to Bloodwise. 

Bloodwise universalises our cause and embraces all 

blood cancer patients. It unites all that we do from 

our research to our patient support services and 

fundraising. 

We know that it is very different and quite surprising, 

but it’s also short, simple and easy to remember, which 

is so important when you’ve just been diagnosed with 

blood cancer. 

Together we hope that these activities will begin 

to create the foundations for a clearly defined, 

collaborative sector for blood cancer patients and of 

course research will remain central to all that we do. 

In considering how we can accelerate progress for 

patients, we have also reviewed how we can ensure 

that we maximise expenditure on patient benefit 

each year. This has included careful consideration of 

sector thinking about reserves. The reduction in our 

net assets is a planned response to this thinking and 

in future years we would expect to end the year with 

negative net assets. For more information on this see 

page 38 

These are very exciting times, which are made possible 

because of your support. 

We will not stop until we have beaten blood cancer. 

Thank you. 

In response to the unparalleled insight and evidence 

that we now have, in the coming year we will be: 

›› 

Delivering a new signposting service for patients 

and health professionals to give them the one 

authoritative, collaborative source of trusted 

information that they seek 

Pelham Allen 

Chairman 

›› 

Launching a blood cancer awareness campaign 

to begin to reverse the lack of awareness of blood 

cancers and of the organisations that are here 

to help 



Bloodwise 6 


Achieving our vision 

Every 14 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed 

with blood cancer or a related disorder. That’s almost 

38,000 people every year. Although blood cancer 

research is one of the most advanced and innovative 

parts of science, the fact that there are more than 100 

different types of blood cancer makes our job a very 

complex one. 

ALL HAEMATOLOGICAL 

NEOPLASM 

EXPECTED NO. 

OF CASES 

Total 37,990 

Although blood cancers mainly affect people over 

50, they’re unusual because they can affect anyone 

regardless of age and lifestyle. 

And because there are so many types of blood cancer, 

it’s often not recognised that together they are the 

third biggest cancer killer in the UK. 

Thanks to research, significant progress has been 

made. Today, two thirds of everyone diagnosed with 

blood cancer or related pre-cancerous condition will 

still be with us in five years’ time. When we started, 

very few survived for this long. 

There have been many successes. The transformation 

in survival for the most common form of childhood 

leukaemia from zero in 1960 to 92% (for those taking 

part in the latest clinical trials) today; the development 

of the first magic bullet therapies in chronic myeloid 

leukaemia; the use of monoclonal antibodies in 

diagnosis and treatment; and more recently the 

development of cell based therapies. These are just 

some of the achievements to date. 

Our vision is to beat blood cancer and our mission is 

to stop people from dying of blood cancer; to make 

patients’ lives better; and to stop blood cancers from 

happening in the first place. 

To achieve this we invest in a robust translational 

pipeline of research, in patient services that improve 

the experience of patients, on acting as a voice for 

patients by campaigning and on generating awareness 

and income. We also share our learning and work with 

others to achieve results more quickly. 

With thanks to HMRN for the statistics shown on 

this page hmrn.org/statistics/incidence 



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STRATEGIC REPORT 


Our strategy 

Our three-year strategy ‘An integrated approach to 

accelerating patient impact’ defines how we’ll achieve 

even more for patients by 2017. From a strong evidence 

base, we’ll be able to more clearly define the tangible 

steps that we need to take to ensure that we achieve 

our vision to beat blood cancer. As you’ll see, we’ve 

made significant strides forward this year. 

Our mission is to stop people dying from blood cancer; 

to make patients’ lives better and to stop blood cancers 

happening in the first place. 

We’ve always described what we’ll do to achieve our 

mission like this: 

›› 

We’ll inspire new treatments and better care. 

›› 

We’ll drive smarter and faster diagnosis. 

›› 

We’ll reveal how blood cancer works. 

›› 

We’ll build communities and share understanding. 

›› 

We’ll be a voice of influence and champion patients’ 

needs. 

Because of our research into patient need this year, we 

plan to simplify the way we describe this in the future, 

to more clearly signal how we help patients and their 

families. 

In the future we’ll describe what we do to achieve our 

mission like this: 

›› 

We research. 

›› 

We help. 

›› 

We campaign. 

›› 

We share learning. 

›› 

We raise money. 

Our belief is that life is a gift to be used wisely and 

lived fiercely. It’s thanks to our indomitable team 

of patients, carers, clinicians, nurses, volunteers, 

trustees, fundraisers and employees that we can be 

quite certain that we won’t stop until we have beaten 

blood cancer. 

Life is a gift to be used wisely 

and lived fiercely. 



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We’ve defined five strategic goals that will accelerate 

our progress in beating blood cancer. 

GOAL 1: OPTIMISE PATIENT IMPACT 

There are many ways we can save and improve the lives 

of patients in the short, medium and long term. This 

goal makes sure that we continue to prioritise and to 

make robust decisions based on evidence. 

GOAL 2: ACHIEVE A STEP CHANGE 

IN INCOME 

While goal 1 will help us to be even more effective with 

the money we spend, this goal will enable us, quite 

simply, to do even more. We know that if we could 

double our income, there are research opportunities 

and patient activities that would accelerate our 

progress yet further. 

GOAL 4: IMPROVE OUR REACH, REPUTATION 

AND BRAND 

Our success depends upon people knowing about us 

and having trust and confidence in what we stand for 

and achieve as an organisation. It’s therefore vitally 

important that we reach many audiences, including 

patients, carers, health professionals and the public, if 

we’re to do all that we can to achieve our vision. 

GOAL 5: STRENGTHEN THE ORGANISATION 

We employ over 100 people and it’s important that we 

appropriately invest in our employment policies, our 

learning and development, our working environment, 

the way we work and our governance to ensure that we 

have a team who enjoy living their working life fully 

and to the very best of their ability. 

GOAL 3: LEVERAGE RESOURCE THROUGH 

PARTNERSHIP 

Over the years, as we’ve gained an unparalleled 

knowledge of blood cancers and improved our 

understanding of the needs of patients, we’ve also 

recognised the important role that we can play as a 

voice of authority and influence. This means that we’re 

well placed to help facilitate collaborations and bring 

resource to our mission that may not be recognised as 

income, but is vital to accelerate progress. 



Bloodwise 9 


GOAL 1 

Optimising patient 

impact 

This has been an unprecedented year for optimising 

patient impact. 

We’ve made one of our largest ever investments in 

research of over £32 million, including a £6.3 million 

commitment to our Trials Acceleration Programme. 

We’ve seized every opportunity to be a voice of 

influence for patients. 

We’ve restructured and reviewed our patient services 

– and as the year ended we appointed our first ever 

Patient Experience Director, who brings with her 18 

years of working with breast cancer patients. 

We’ve also reported on the findings of our first phase 

of research into patient need, shared the findings with 

other organisations and shaped priority responses 

to be delivered in the year ahead which we believe 

will begin to clearly define a sector for blood cancer 

patients. 

In thinking about how we optimise patient impact, 

we’ve looked very carefully at our reserves policy to 

see if we can make all of our assets work even harder 

for patients. 

A traditional definition of reserves based on net assets 

(free reserves) compares total assets to total liabilities, 

without regard for the timeframe in which those 

liabilities will become payable. 

Our grant commitments are long-term, recognised as 

liabilities in one year but only payable up to three years 

later. The challenge for us therefore is not do we have 

sufficient assets to pay all of our liabilities, but have 

we got enough assets now to pay the liabilities that are 

due now. 

In this respect, liquidity is a more important measure 

than net assets. For this reason, cash and investments 

are a more appropriate definition of reserves than net 

assets. 

The reduction in our net assets is a deliberately 

managed position to enable us to commit more to 

research, more quickly. By the end of the next financial 

year we plan to have a negative net asset position, 

which is wholly consistent with our reserves policy on 

page 38. 



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RESEARCH 

Revealing how blood cancer works underpins our 

ability to design new targeted and stratified treatment 

approaches, as well as our ability to constantly refine 

and increase the effectiveness of existing treatments 

and reduce their toxicity. 

There are cross cutting characteristics of all cancers, 

sometimes called ‘hallmarks’, that are mechanisms 

that must be disrupted for cancer to take hold. Because 

blood cancers are different to solid tumours, some of 

the hallmarks are more relevant for us than others. 

Understanding of these hallmarks is unparalleled in 

blood cancers and the progress that we’ve made in 

this respect has enhanced understanding of diseases 

beyond blood cancer. 

Each cell in our body is controlled by a molecular 

orchestra that governs its growth and movement. These 

involve factors that stimulate growth and division, 

safety switches that kick in if a cell is damaged, 

a hardwired finite lifespan, and signals between 

neighbouring cells to remain where they belong. 

Faults in the proteins that make up these critical 

control mechanisms can lead to the uncontrolled cell 

growth and abnormal cell behaviour characteristic 

of cancer. These faults arise when the DNA sequence 

within the cell, which provides the template for 

making new proteins, picks up errors. 

Increasingly, we’re defining diseases by more specific 

molecular changes in a cell that might respond to 

different therapies. 

This means we’re starting to collate patients into 

groups by virtue of their likelihood to benefit from 

differing therapies, rather than the traditional 

definitions of the symptoms patients present with 

at diagnosis and what their cells look like down a 

microscope. Exciting times! 

Over the next few pages we’ll give you a snapshot of 

some of the research we’ve invested in this year, in the 

context of the hallmarks that are relevant to us in the 

blood cancer community. 



Bloodwise 11 


HIDING FROM THE IMMUNE POLICE 

Many cells, such as white blood cells, 

patrol the body to seek out foreign 

invaders or rogue cells and flag them for 

destruction. To avoid this, cancer cells may 

send out ‘I’m friendly’ signals to make them invisible 

to the immune system. Scientists are developing ways 

to unveil this invisibility cloak to usher in a killer 

immune attack. 

Professor Francesco Dazzi at Kings College London 

has a £1 million programme to develop ways, using 

different facets of the immune system, to overcome 

this immune cloaking to unleash a killer response. 

These sorts of approaches have the potential to be 

truly personalised. 

We’re also supporting early stage clinical trials in 

Oxford and Southampton to test new modified immune 

proteins that stick to leukaemia or lymphoma cells and 

flag them to other killer white blood cells. 

THE HALLMARKS OF CANCER 

IGNORING THE RED LIGHT 

Cells are constantly monitoring and 

receiving signals from the surrounding 

environment. The signals determine when new cells 

are needed and when growth should be stopped. These 

provide a counter-balance to the ‘go’ signals and make 

sure cells are put in sleep mode at the right times. 

Cancer cells acquire genetic faults that mean they are 

insensitive to growth-preventing signals from their 

neighbours that normally act as safety valves against 

uncontrolled cell growth. 

Dr Jonathan Strefford at the University of Southampton 

has a £250,000 project that will use cultured and 

isolated leukaemia cells to discover how faults in a key 

protein prevent chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) 

cells from being pushed to cell death by surrounding 

signals or drugs. This will help us better understand 

disease progression and to develop ways to overcome 

drug resistance. 

ENDLESS NEW CELLS 

Chromosomes – the packets of genetic 

material in our cells – have protective 

caps at their ends, like the plastic at the 

ends of shoelaces. As normal cells grow 

and divide, these protective caps get nibbled away. 

When they get too short, the cell enters sleep mode or 

activates its cell death program. This means normal 

cells have a finite limit on the number of divisions – 

another safety mechanism to prevent uncontrolled 

growth. 

Certain genetic faults, however, can cause overactivation 

of proteins that keep lengthening the 

protective caps, meaning they’re capable of limitless 

growth and division. The DNA in these immortal cells 

become more and more damaged over time, leading to 

cancer. 

When a protein called NF-kB switches on it triggers a 

cell to multiply. Faults in this protein can cause it to 

become permanently active, pushing the cell towards 

endless growth. Professor Guido Franzoso’s team 



Bloodwise 12 


at Imperial College have developed a new drug that 

blocks faulty NF-kB signals in myeloma, and a new 

project seeks to test whether the same effects can be 

seen in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. 

A WOUND THAT NEVER HEALS 

Inflammation in tissues is how the body 

responds to injury. It helps bring in the 

cells needed to remove old cells and 

make new ones. Just as the immune cells 

gather near a site of injury to begin tissue repair, 

cancers mimic these signals to surround themselves 

with immune cells to promote their uncontrolled cell 

growth. 

A new project at Kings College in London will 

investigate how corrupted non-cancerous cells in 

leukaemia potentially block the action of killer 

white blood cells, preventing removal of the cancer 

cells. This is to develop strategies to re-educate the 

corrupted surrounding cells to improve new and 

existing immunotherapies. 

GENETIC CHAOS 

Cancer is a disease of the genes. Errors 

in DNA – sometimes inherited but more 

often acquired during a person’s lifetime 

– disrupt the normal ‘stop / go’ switches, 

leading to cells growing out of control. 

As the safety switches and repair mechanisms 

are bypassed, the cancer cells become a hotbed 

of genetic faults – further disrupting the cellular 

machinery. Different daughter cells pick up different 

combinations of abnormalities, and daughter cells 

with faults that best allow them to survive and grow 

will dominate. They pass on the ‘cancer-promoting’ 

genetic abnormalities to their daughter cells and the 

vicious circle continues. 

Our scientists at the Institute of Cancer, led by 

Professor Mel Greaves, Sutton are cataloguing the 

series of genetic abnormalities acquired by cancer cells 

in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children. This is 

highlighting the key steps that need to happen for the 

disease to occur, raising the possibility that we’ll be 

able to develop preventative therapies. 

We’ve also supported a national consortium to 

decipher the DNA sequence of individual patients 

with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas, with the 

aim to match them to particular drugs that target the 

specific biological faults driving the cancer. The goal 

is to design a broad genetic profiling test to identify, in 

advance, the drugs patients are most likely to benefit 

from, especially if they relapse. 

REFUSING TO DIE 

When a cell divides to make new cells, 

it has to duplicate its DNA and produce 

all the cellular machinery needed in the 

new cells. Each cell has a series of in-built 

quality control steps – if the cell has any damage, the 

cell division process is stopped until the damage is 

repaired. If the damage is too great to repair, the cell 

gets stalled at one of the checkpoints and initiates a 

tidy cell death program that leaves no trace of the cell 

behind. Genetic faults in cancer cells bypass these 

safety checkpoints and let it escape the cell death 

program, meaning damaged cancerous cells can carry 

on growing. 

Drugs like imatinib have been transformational in 

controlling chronic myeloid leukaemia, but they don’t 

cure the disease and relapse is possible. Professor 

Tessa Holyoake in Glasgow has a £1.8 million 

programme which is investigating whether crippling 

other molecular gatekeepers of cell growth and 

division can eliminate the ‘master’ leukaemia stem 

cells. 



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FUELLING FASTER GROWTH 

Many cancer cells grow quickly, and need a 

rapid energy supply to fuel the production 

of new cells. To do this, the cancer quickly 

churns out energy-carrying molecules by 

hijacking mechanisms normally reserved for times 

when oxygen is low or lots of cells are urgently needed 

to fight infection. This has been known for a long time, 

but has gained renewed interest as scientists have 

realised that blocking it is a possible way of starving 

the cancer of its fuel. 

At University College London Dr Stephen Daw is 

leading the UK arm of a large international clinical 

trial for children, adolescents and young adults with 

newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma. Cure for these 

patients often comes after gruelling treatment and 

at the expense of long-term health problems because 

of the side effects of the treatment, particularly 

radiotherapy. By using PET scans that detect abnormal 

metabolic activity in cancer cells, the trial aims to 

reduce the use of radiotherapy in lower risk patients 

who respond well to initial chemotherapy, and to 

reduce the intensity of radiotherapy in patients who 

still need it. 

FOOT ON THE GAS 

Normal cells can’t multiply without 

the right level of ‘go ahead’ message 

from growth signals within the tissue. 

But cancer cells don’t rely on external 

stimulation: they’re self-sustaining. 

They keep themselves alive by making growth signals 

themselves, by becoming super sensitive to signals 

around them or turning the light switch to ‘always on’. 

Many targeted therapies, such as imatinib, work by 

dampening these ‘go’ signals. 

Professors Conny Bonifer and Peter Cockerill have 

a £1.5 million programme at the University of 

Birmingham which is focusing on regulator proteins 

that have gone awry in one of the biggest blood 

cancer killers, acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). As a 

consequence the activities of hundreds of genes under 

their control are inappropriately altered. 

The team want to understand how these changes affect 

the growth signalling pathways in different types 

of AML and whether drugs can be used to target or 

reverse the changes. 



Bloodwise 14 


FIRST IN HUMAN TRIALS 

Over the years we’ve developed a robust pipeline of 

research from basic biology to phase 3 trials, but 

with one gap: first in human trials. These trials aim 

to find out if a drug behaves in a human being in the 

way researchers expect it to following their laboratory 

studies. For the first time this year we’ve supported 

two first in human trials. 

Advancing our mission can often be better achieved 

through collaboration. One of the trials is in 

partnership with Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug 

Development. Arising from Professor Mark Cragg’s 

research at the University of Southampton, Professor 

Andy Davies will lead a trial that exploits a novel 

antibody approach in combination with rituximab in 

chronic lymphocytic leukaemias and lymphomas. 

In the second trial, Professor Paresh Vyas in Oxford is 

trialling a new antibody developed in conjunction with 

Stanford University in AML patients. 

INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE 

Biobanks are large collections of biological or medical 

data and tissue samples, gathered for research 

purposes. They’re a powerful tool in the study of 

complex diseases. 

We renewed funding of the Childhood Leukaemia Cell 

Bank this year, which underpins the UK as a major 

player in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia 

research. It’ll be vital if we’re to develop biological 

therapies to replace the current aggressive and toxic 

treatments. Samples from the bank have already been 

used to make important new discoveries about how 

leukaemia develops and improved ways of managing 

the disease in children. 

SHARING LEARNING 

This year we’ve worked with other medical research 

charities including Cancer Research UK, Arthritis 

Research UK and the British Heart Foundation to 

launch a new Open Access Fund. This fund will help to 

make research paid for by the public freely available, 

as soon as it’s published. 

This model allows knowledge to be shared faster 

and promotes innovation, accelerating progress that 

can help lead to patients accessing better treatments 

sooner. 

TRIALS ACCELERATION PROGRAMME 

Three years ago we identified that lack of access to 

early phase clinical trials created unmet need and 

hindered our ability to translate potential research 

findings into patient benefit. 

Just 6% of blood cancer patients had access to early 

phase trials compared with an average of 19% across 

all cancers. With the expertise of Professors Charlie 



Bloodwise 15 


Craddock and Peter Hillman and the passion of 

former England footballer and leukaemia survivor 

Geoff Thomas, we designed a solution: the Trials 

Acceleration Programme (TAP). 

The unique design of the programme enables 

researchers to do what they do best, which is to ask the 

research questions that might lead to new treatments 

for patients. They’re supported by a central hub in 

Birmingham, housed in the Cancer Research UK 

Clinical Trials Unit: this hub has the bureaucracy and 

administration of setting up trials nailed, thanks to 

the necessary skills in contract negotiation and ethics 

amongst other things. This means that everyone 

involved can play to their strengths and progress can 

be made more quickly. 

We’ve also provided funding for research nurses or 

data analysts to enable 13 centres to be networked 

in the TAP. This means more equal access to trials 

throughout the UK. And because the centres 

recruit patients at the same time, we accelerate the 

recruitment and reduce the duration of the trials. 

This year the two-year pilot phase of TAP was 

reviewed by an international panel of blood cancer 

and solid tumour experts from Europe and the US. 

It also included the director of the National Cancer 

Research Institute (NCRI) and representatives from 

pharmaceutical companies. The panel was chaired 

by Professor Christine Chomienne, President of the 

European Haematology Association. 

At the time of the review, 14 trials had been approved 

and 7 opened, with 300 patients recruited against a 

target accrual of 950. There are now 15 approved trials 

and 10 open for recruitment. 

The panel were unanimous in their conclusion that 

TAP has been a great success. 

The panel agreed that the pilot had tested and proven 

the case for a centralised hub and although the 

ambitious target of six months to open a trial hadn’t 

been met, the recruitment of patients had been on 

target once the trial opened. 

I applaud the progress you’ve 

made from a standing start, 

and I fully support you in your 

endeavours. 

A letter from Sean Duffy, National Clinical Director 

for Cancer, supported the panel’s conclusion. 

The panel especially noted innovative statistical and 

trial design, as well as the fact that nearly £100 million 

of drugs had been leveraged from pharmaceuticals 

during the pilot phase. One partner, Novartis, noted 

that TAP had enabled a 50% reduction in the cost of 

putting a patient through the trial. 



Bloodwise 16 


In an era where the old model of drug development 

takes too long and is simply too expensive – and 

in a year when the Cancer Drugs Fund has been 

challenged and will continue to be challenged – TAP is 

a demonstration of a new, more cost effective way to 

deliver new treatments. 

We plan to progress conversations with the National 

Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to make some 

new drugs available earlier than normal, for discrete 

groups of patients who need them urgently. 

to cover the funding of the hub for five years from 

January 2015 and the centres for two years, pending a 

full review of the centres in 2016. A TAP manager has 

been recruited to ensure that the key metrics that will 

demonstrate the success of TAP are achieved. 

With TAP and our investment in non-TAP trials, this 

year has seen our biggest investment ever in clinical 

trials of £9.5 million. 

We committed further funding of £6.3 million to TAP 

The route to de-costing 

medicines is de-risking them 

for pharmaceuticals. This 

means deeper development by 

the academic sector and the 

uptake by industry of only the 

medicines that are most likely 

to be successful and therefore 

licensed. This means no loss 

leaders and cheaper drugs. 

Chris Bunce, Research Director. 



Bloodwise 17 


RESEARCH INTO 

PATIENT NEED 

There’s no doubt that our investment in blood 

cancer research has helped to achieved unparalleled 

understanding of the biology of these complex 

cancers and revealed many opportunities for 

therapeutic intervention. 

As we approached our 55th anniversary, we began to 

consider how we might achieve the progress in the 

next 55 years that will mean we succeed in our vision 

of beating blood cancer. We wanted to make sure that 

we could do even more to save and improve the lives 

of patients in the short, medium and long term. 

We recognised that although there was useful data 

available about blood cancers, there wasn’t one 

comprehensive and authoritative source to go to – and 

in particular there hadn’t been a comprehensive study 

of patients and their needs. One of the first jobs for 

our newly appointed Head of Insight, two years ago, 

was to define a programme of research to create this 

evidence base. 

We aimed to combine the wisdom of patients, carers, 

clinicians, patient organisations, policy makers and 

researchers working at the cutting edge of blood 

cancer intelligence. We teamed these voices with the 

most comprehensive blood cancer data and research 

in the UK to build a holistic evidence base to inform 

our decisions, now and in the future. 

From an initial pilot study, we’ve now conducted an 

online patient need survey with over 1,700 people 

affected by blood cancer. 

We’ve also conducted an online survey of the general 

public’s awareness of blood cancer conditions, 

with 2,000 interviews conducted of a nationally 

representative sample of adults living in Great Britain. 

We wanted to enrich the quantitative data with 

qualitative research, so we carried out patient and 

carer focus groups and in-depth interviews with 

patients and health professionals. 

We also conducted a data analysis and literature 

review of key cancer data from the Haematological 

Malignancy Research Network (HMRN), the National 

Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) and the National 

Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES). This was 

supported by an on-going literature review of blood 

cancer research, current treatments and patient 

experience studies. 

24 KEY AREAS OF NEED 

1. Blood cancer awareness 

2. The biggest killers 

3. Early deaths 

4. Pre-malignant conditions 

5. Diagnosis 

6. Relationship with medical profession 

7. Role of the GP 

8. Clinical Nurse Specialists 

9. Information and advice 

10. Peer-to-peer support 

11. Empowering patients 

12. Blood cancers are different 

13. Role of carers 

14. Support for others 

15. Psychological support 

16. Apparent lack of provision 

17. Watch and wait 

18. Access to new drugs and treatment 

19. Age and ageing 

20. Clinical trials 

21. Socio-economic factors 

22. Reducing secondary cancers 

23. Maintaining remission 

24. Post treatment 

The research has highlighted 24 key issues faced 

by patients across their experiences with blood 

cancer. They traverse the different stages of the 

patient experience: from initial awareness to 

diagnosis, right through to post-treatment and, 

for some, end of life care. 

Over time we plan to work with others to dig deeper 

and into all of the issues, but six issues stood out for 

us as requiring an urgent response. 



Bloodwise 18 


1. THE BIGGEST KILLERS 

We now have a clear understanding of the conditions 

that have the biggest impact on lives lost. Our 

evidence has identified just five conditions that 

account for 69% of all lives lost within five years 

of diagnosis: 

›› 

myeloma 

›› 

diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) 

›› 

acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) 

›› 

myelodsyplastic syndromes (MDS) 

›› 

chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). 

ANALYSIS OF LIVES LOST AT 5 YEARS POST DIAGNOSIS 

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 



Bloodwise 19 


2. PRE-MALIGNANT CONDITIONS 

The understanding and treatment of pre-malignant 

conditions may help prevent some of the cases of 

the biggest killers from occurring. Some MDS cases 

progress to (AML) and all cases of myeloma arise 

from a condition known as monoclonal gammopathy 

of unknown significance (MGUS). If we include the 

precursor conditions, we find that just six conditions 

account for 73% of total lives lost in the five years 

after diagnosis. 

3. EARLY DEATHS 

Analysing relative survival rates has shown us that 

for certain conditions, such as AML and DLBCL, half 

of the deaths occur within the first three months 

after diagnosis. This is a complex area – it could 

be that these cases represent the more vulnerable 

patients or those with the most aggressive hard-totreat 

forms of the disease, or it could be that we’re 

not diagnosing a significant group of patients early 

enough. 

Data from the National Cancer Intelligence Network 

(NCIN) for example shows that over half of AML 

patients are diagnosed in A&E – more than double the 

rate for cancer patients overall. 

4. CRISIS IN AWARENESS 

Our research has shown there’s low awareness of 

blood cancer and its symptoms amongst the general 

public – many patients being diagnosed with blood 

cancer have no pre-awareness or understanding of the 

disease they face. 

Symptoms are often vague and easily confused with 

relatively benign illnesses or old age, and many 

conditions are relatively rare as individual diseases. 

5. BLOOD CANCERS ARE DIFFERENT 

Patients and carers told us they feel blood cancers 

differ to other cancers in terms of awareness, 

experience, care and available provision. 

This could be for a variety of reasons. We know that 

services are available, but some blood cancer patients 

don’t know about them or see them as relevant. 

Another factor might be that many blood cancer 

patients are seen in a haematology unit, whereas 

other cancer patients will go to oncology. 

These differences in experiences, treatment and care 

can leave some patients feeling isolated from certain 

cancer services and feeling unsure about whether 

such services are relevant to their needs. 



Bloodwise 20 


6. NEED FOR SIGNPOSTING 

Our research has shown that many blood cancer 

patients aren’t accessing the support and resources 

they need. We asked patients about their needs at each 

stage of their cancer experience – from diagnosis to 

post-treatment – and how these needs were being met. 

Our research has highlighted that more needs to be 

done to meet the wide-ranging needs of blood cancer 

patients. Something that came up time and time again 

was the idea that blood cancer patients needed better 

signposting towards organisations that could help 

support them. 

Our research findings underpin many of our plans 

for the year ahead. These include a better alignment 

of our new research commitments to areas of greatest 

patient need and the launch of a collaborative 

signposting service, an awareness campaign and our 

new name (Bloodwise) during Blood Cancer Awareness 

Month in September. 

›› 

For more information about our patient need 

research go to beatingbloodcancers.org.uk/ 

patient-report 

95% 80% 47% 45% 

Reported a need for 

information about the 

specific cancer, prognosis 

and treatment types. 

Wanted information 

on emotional support. 

Wanted advice on how 

to tell others. 

Wanted information 

on financial support 

and relevant benefit. 



Bloodwise 21 


A VOICE OF INFLUENCE FOR 

PATIENTS 

Through our public affairs work, we aim to engage 

and influence decision makers, maximise the impact 

of our research and patient services, provide solutions 

and work with others. 

ENGAGING AND INFLUENCING DECISION MAKERS 

It’s been a very busy year for our public affairs team, 

who’ve been proactively driving the needs of blood 

cancer patients and responding in an agile way to 

policy issues as they come up, often in collaboration 

with other organisations across the devolved nations. 

During the year we’ve had an increased presence 

in places where the voice of our patients needs to 

be heard. This has included attendance at party 

conferences, all party groups, cancer networks and 

at umbrella body events. We’ve also engaged with 

our researchers and patients to adopt evidence-based 

policy positions when it’s mattered. 

There’s tangible impact for patients from this 

important work, as the following examples show. 

MAKING CRUCIAL DRUGS AVAILABLE 

Earlier this year the Scottish Medicines Consortium 

(SMC) decided that ruxolitinib wouldn’t be made 

available to myelofibrosis patients in Scotland. 

Myelofibrosis is a blood disorder caused by an 

abnormality in cells that make platelets. As the 

disease develops, tissue in the bone marrow scars 

over and becomes useless. Blood cell production 

is taken over by the liver and spleen, resulting in 

low blood counts. Symptoms can vary but include 

anaemia, persistent infections, headaches and skin 

irritation. Ruxolitinib is the only treatment shown to 

be able to lessen these debilitating symptoms, reduce 

spleen size and improve quality of life for patients. 

We provided the views of two clinical experts at the 

SMC’s patient and clinical engagement meeting and 

after hearing from clinicians and charities, the SMC 

reversed their decision. 



Bloodwise 22 


BEING A VOICE AT A NATIONAL LEVEL 

In January NHS England announced the establishment 

of an independent taskforce to develop a five-year 

strategy for cancer services. The taskforce has been 

asked to deliver the vision set out in the NHS Five 

Year Forward View, which calls for action on three 

fronts: better prevention; swifter diagnosis; and better 

treatment, care and aftercare for all those diagnosed 

with cancer. The taskforce sought responses to three 

questions: 

1. What commitment would you like to see in a new 

cancer strategy that would significantly improve 

cancer services? 

2. What are the examples of good practice in cancer 

services that you’d like to see replicated across the 

country? 

This type of support is particularly important for 

blood cancer patients, as for many their cancer 

isn’t ‘cured’ by their treatment; instead, often their 

treatment means they will ‘live with’ their cancer for 

many years. 

Solid tumour patients have been positive about 

aftercare packages such as the Cancer Recovery 

Package. However we know that take up of this 

package has been very low from blood cancer patients, 

so we told the taskforce that further consideration 

should be given to how it could be adapted for 

chronic patients managing their cancer as a long term 

condition. For some, the terminology ‘recovery’ just 

doesn’t resonate. 

3. What’s the biggest barrier to improving cancer 

services? 

Our response was driven by the evidence we’ve 

identified through our patient need research, which 

made it clear that access to appropriate emotional 

support during and after treatment is one of the most 

significant areas of unmet need. 

We told the taskforce that we know many patients 

feel the level of support they get falls away after 

their initial treatment. While they continue to 

receive regular check-ups with health professionals 

to manage their medical needs, the emotional and 

psychological element of care is often missing and we 

think this needs addressing. 



Bloodwise 23 


and national organisations; and what collaboration 

means in practice for the NHS, charities, industry and 

research with a focus on what the future could look 

like. 

HELPING CHILDREN BE ‘FREE TO BE’ 

We marked Childhood Cancer Awareness month in 

September with ‘Children Dream Big’ a social media 

campaign where we encouraged our supporters to 

share their childhood dreams. This proved to be our 

most successful social media campaign ever, reaching 

120,000 people in just three days. 

Alastair Campbell and Cathy Gilman 

TALKING POLICY 

The development of unique policy events has proved 

a very effective way to engage busy, influential 

people in focused debate as well as provide excellent 

opportunities to build important relationships in a 

cost and time effective way for everyone. 

During the year we were very fortunate to host two 

important policy dinners at the Speaker’s House in 

Westminster, thanks to John Bercow and Alastair 

Campbell. In May we discussed the progress of TAP, 

and shared our experience of the challenges of setting 

up trials for rarer cancers and the need to crack some 

of the issues around setting up international trials. 

The campaign was supported by a reception at 

Downing Street, hosted by Samantha Cameron, where 

we asked our guests to get involved with our ‘Free 

to be’ campaign. At the event we brought urgency to 

the need for young blood cancer patients to not just 

escape blood cancer; but to be completely free to live 

their lives normally: free from side effects: free from 

fear; free to live their lives; free to be themselves. 

This was accompanied by a new report that explained 

the needs of young patients and how our existing 

£12.7 million investment in research into childhood 

cancers is meeting them. It also identified the need 

for a European solution to the delivery of clinical 

trials, if we’re to deliver new much less toxic 

biological treatments for children. 

In March the Chief Executive of NHS England, 

Simon Stevens and the National Clinical Director 

for Cancer, Sean Duffy joined representatives 

from the pharmaceutical industry, Innovate UK, 

Google Ventures as well as Cancer Research UK, the 

Lymphoma Association, Leukaemia Care and the 

African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust to discuss the 

opportunity that collaboration brings to accelerate 

progress for patients. 

Using our patient need research as the starting 

point, we discussed how organisations can share 

evidence based decision making more effectively in 

their work; how agile, innovative approaches and 

new technologies deliver in established institutions 

Our reception at 10 Downing Street 



Bloodwise 24 


550,000 

The number of people accessing our 

patient information online each year. 

330 

The number of people blogging and 

sharing their experiences in our patient 

community. 

25 

The number of patient information 

books we publish. 

34 

The number of patients and health 

professionals we filmed to create new 

information videos for patients. 

50,000 


booklets we supplied free of charge 

to individuals, hospitals and GPs 

each year. 

10 


factsheets we publish 

PATIENT EXPERIENCE 

Medical research has been at the core of our work 

since we began in 1960, and will remain there. But 

over the last five years we’ve also been going through 

significant change – centred on how we can improve 

the outcomes and experiences of people affected by 

blood cancer. 

We’ve already begun to stretch our sphere of 

influence beyond the research community. We’ve also 

responded to our growing understanding of patient 

need by developing our patient information and 

support offering, enhancing our patient and carer 

experience digitally and engaging more robustly with 

the clinical community. 

Our patient experience team have been supporting 

our programme of patient need research, creating 

a safe space for focus groups and one to one 

conversations with patients to help gain the primary 

patient qualitative data. 

At the same time they’ve been developing closer 

relationships with the clinical community, ensuring 

that we have expert voices to help us understand 

issues raised by patients. 

This has involved setting up a Medical Advisory Panel 

and a Nursing Advisory Panel to ensure we have a 

forum to seek expert opinion and advice. 

Building these relationships with patients and the 

clinical community has already resulted in a visible 

difference in the level of interaction we have, through 

the volume of patient information that we send out; 

the hits to our patient web pages; the comments 

on Facebook and the number of blogs that patients 

contribute to share their experiences. 

Until now, our patient experience activities have sat 

within the marketing directorate. Our Marketing 

Director, Emma Whelan, has done an incredible job 

growing and developing a hugely diverse directorate, 

while creating a vision for patients. 

It’s very much thanks to her work and our planned 

responses to our patient need research that we’ve 

decided to set up a new, separate patient services 

directorate. We’ll be welcoming our first ever Patient 

Experience Director in July, Diana Jupp, who has 18 

years of experience working with patients at Breast 

Cancer Care in July 2015. 



Bloodwise 25 


GOAL 2 

Achieve a step change 

in income 

This has been a year where the success in the smaller 

gift areas of our fundraising has been sharply 

contrasted with real challenges in corporate, trusts 

and major gifts. 

London|Paris 

Our sports events 

team delivered another 

spectacular year, with 

a record number of 

participants and record 

funds raised at the 

Leukaemia & Lymphoma 

Research Blenheim Palace 

Triathlon. The second 

year of our London to 

Paris cycling event also 

saw substantial growth 

and also offers an 

important engagement 

opportunity with 

corporate audiences. 

Paws to beat blood cancer 

We have great strength in local engagement and 

fundraising, very much thanks to the efforts of our 

voluntary fundraising Branches and our energetic 

regional team. During the year Blackpool, Derbyshire 

and Brentwood, Billericay and Hutton Branches 

celebrated an incredible 50 years of fundraising; our 

Lutterworth and Grimsby Branches celebrated raising 

their first £1 million; 

and the final Tredegar House Vintage Car 

Rally organised by our Gwent Branch raised an 

unprecedented £90,000. 

We’ve begun to develop some more proactive 

approaches to individual giving, introducing both 

a Christmas appeal and a longer term approach in 

the shape of two very sensitive legacy events in 

beautiful locations, which gave the opportunity for 

quiet reflection and to meet 

others affected by 

blood cancer. 

Blenheim Palace Triathon 

The drop in income came 

from our larger gift income 

streams, although within 

this there continued to be 

some successes. 

Our Lutterworth Branch 



Bloodwise 26 


The opportunities in research to improve the lives 

of patients are unprecedented and we know that 

we could invest substantially more in high quality 

research. There is an urgent need to generate more 

income if we are to optimise the opportunity. We 

know that this is connected to poor awareness of 

blood cancers and the organisations that are here 

to help, and we also know that the majority of 

our income comes from people affected by blood 

cancers. The transactional nature of the name 

‘Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research’ doesn’t convey 

the exciting movement of people that we are, and 

the opportunities that exist to be involved in beating 

blood cancer. 

Our partnership with Wickes now exceeds £4 million: 

FY15 was their biggest year ever, with Wickes 

customers and colleagues raising an incredible £1 

million in just 12 months. Customers were able to buy 

red wheelbarrows and buckets throughout the year, 

with a proportion of profits going to their fundraising 

total. The August Bank Holiday weekend saw ‘Wickes 

Around the World’ take place: with exercise bikes 

in every store, colleagues cycled 32,000 miles – the 

equivalent of one and a half times around the world! 

Our awareness work later in the year will be a vital 

foundation to reaching more supporters and we 

know that we need to be more strategic and proactive 

with communication, engagement and relationship 

building. When we get this right, we create friends 

for life, but we need to be more systematic. Our new 

name, Bloodwise, will give us the opportunity to 

engage with new audiences, while nurturing and 

supporting the dedicated people who already support 

our work. 

We’ve restructured our larger gifts team to be better 

aligned to the needs of partners and supporters. 

Towards the end of the year we recruited an 

experienced Head of Major Funding, who is tasked 

with optimising the brand opportunity we now have. 

Via a project called ‘Knowing our Audiences’, which 

is analysing and understanding the motivations of 

our diverse supporter groups, we’ll be better placed to 

be more targeted with our innovation in fundraising 

– and able to respond to the needs of our supporters 

and the broader market. 



Bloodwise 27 


GOAL 3 

Leverage resource 

through partnership 

Our partnership goal ensures that we work with 

others to help to optimise all of the resource that’s 

invested in beating blood cancers. 

We’ve rapidly developed from quite an introspective 

research charity into an organisation that uses our 

knowledge and resource for the benefit of patients 

in every way. Throughout this report there are very 

many examples of how by being at the heart of new 

partnerships we’re making more progress, more 

quickly. From our patient need research to the Trials 

Acceleration programme; to open access publishing to 

first in human trials – we share knowledge, talent and 

investment. 

Our first step is to deliver an authentically 

collaborative signposting service for patients, which 

reflects the 24 key needs we’ve uncovered and clearly 

points to the organisations and services that can 

help. Sharing the findings of our research with other 

charities including Leukaemia Care, the Lymphoma 

Association, Anthony Nolan, the Elimination 

of Leukaemia Fund, Delete Blood Cancer and 

Maggie’s has been a useful starting point to a more 

collaborative way to deliver for patients. 

Our research around the needs of patients, their 

families and health professionals has told us how 

important clear signposting services are. This has 

helped us start to think about our role in creating a 

more clearly defined sector for blood cancer patients. 



Bloodwise 28 


GOAL 4 

Improve reach, 

reputation and brand 

Our patient need research showed us that to deliver 

the greatest impact for patients and to raise more 

money we need more awareness of blood cancers, 

their symptoms and our organisation. We need 

more people to know who we are, know what we 

do, engage with us and tell others about us. Among 

all the important insights from this research three 

big challenges stood out – so we needed three big 

solutions. 

OUR CHALLENGES 

THE WORLD SIMPLY DOESN’T UNDERSTAND 

BLOOD CANCERS 

People don’t realise blood cancers are the third 

biggest cancer killer, or that anyone can get blood 

cancer whatever age, stage or lifestyle. What’s more, 

patients feel that doctors and nurses don’t know 

enough about the different variants and symptoms, 

and that means cases can go undiagnosed and 

sometimes patients die soon after diagnosis. 

PEOPLE STRUGGLE TO FIND THE 

INFORMATION AND SUPPORT THEY NEED 

There’s no clear signpost or place to go when you’re 

diagnosed and patients often don’t know where to 

turn. Sadly, our name is stopping us from helping. 

It doesn’t embrace all our patients. It talks about 

leukaemia and lymphoma but leaves out dozens of 

other blood cancers including myeloma, the biggest 

blood cancer killer. 

BLOOD CANCER PATIENTS DON’T FEEL PART 

OF A COMMUNITY OR A CAUSE 

Because there are so many types of blood cancer, with 

different names and symptoms, our patients don’t 

have a sense of shared identity. Some don’t even see 

themselves as cancer patients. And while there are 

lots of great organisations out there, most focus on 

individual diseases. It all means that patients can 

often feel isolated and alone. 



Bloodwise 29 


OUR SOLUTIONS 

SET UP A BLOOD CANCER 

SIGNPOSTING SERVICE 

We’re building a hub for patients and carers – a 

place to go with the latest information and insight, 

partnering with other organisations to bring a strong 

sense of community and mutual support to people 

with all types of blood cancer. We hope that this will 

be the foundation of a more clearly defined sector 

for patients, their families and health professionals 

and that over time we’ll reduce duplication and bring 

clarity to the role each charity plays in our sector. 

our research and thought leadership to our patient 

support services and fundraising. It’s true to our 

past, right for our present and exciting for our future. 

It’s very different and quite surprising but it’s also 

simple, short and easy to remember – which is so 

important when you’ve just been diagnosed with 

blood cancer and your world has turned upside down. 

LAUNCH A MAJOR BLOOD CANCER 

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 

We’ve set ourselves the challenge of creating 

a campaign to increase both awareness of our 

charity and public understanding of blood cancer. 

In consultation with our medical advisory panel 

and patients, we’ll deliver a targeted, cost effective 

campaign that begins to address the problem of 

people wishing they had known about blood cancers – 

and where to get help after a diagnosis – sooner. 

CHANGE OUR NAME 

After very careful consideration of all of the options, 

we agreed it was time to find a new name for our 

charity. A name that shows we’re here for all blood 

cancer patients, for their families and friends. A 

name that grabs the attention and signals just how 

important blood cancer and blood health are for 

everyone. 

After a rigorous and robust review process, involving 

consultation with different stakeholder groups, we 

chose ‘Bloodwise’. 

We chose Bloodwise because it embraces all blood 

cancer patients. It unites everything we do: from 

63,000 

The number of people who ‘Like’ us on Facebook. 

19,000 

The number of people who follow us on Twitter. 

1 million 

The number of visitors to our website last year. 



Bloodwise 30 


GOAL 5 

Strengthening 

the organisation 

We’re an ambitious organisation that’s agile and 

responsive to meeting the needs of our patients 

in every way. This means that our charity can be 

an exciting place to work and sometimes it can be 

challenging, especially if things aren’t communicated 

well or processes aren’t properly defined. 

During the year we’ve had a more proactive approach 

to staff communication. Priorities have been more 

clearly defined and through our performance 

development reviews (PDRs) each employee has clear 

line of sight to how their objectives are aligned. 

Our learning and development self awareness 

programme was extended to all staff this year, and 

through consultation we’ve identified a core skills 

training programme. This has begun with sessions 

on influencing and communicating with the 

leadership team. 

We were very pleased to finally improve the appearance 

of the reception area in our head office building, 

which now more appropriately reflects the kind of 

organisation that we are. 

This has been the first full year for our Chairman. 

We’ve moved from three to six Board meetings a 

year, which has enabled the Trustees to have better 

continuity and engagement. 

The restructure of our committees, moving from 

Finance & General Purpose to Audit & Risk and the 

introduction of an Appointments and Remuneration 

Committee has given better clarity of responsibility 

and shared ownership by the Board. In the coming 

year we’ll be looking at Board development and 

performance review of Trustees. 



Bloodwise 31 


THE YEAR AHEAD: 

OUR KEY PRIORITIES 

The research we’ve done into patient need and 

understanding our fundraising audiences provides 

the evidence base for our plans for the year ahead. 

In the coming year, we will: 

›› 

ensure that our research into patient need will be at 

the heart of the choices that we make 

›› 

ensure that our new research commitments are 

aligned to the five biggest killers and pre-malignant 

conditions where possible 

›› 

begin to get a better understanding of why so many 

deaths occur just three months after diagnosis for 

acute myeloid leukaemia and diffuse large B-cell 

lymphoma patients 

›› 

review our research committees, ensuring that they 

continue to represent the multi-disciplinary nature of 

our research, and optimise synergies between our new 

commitments, ensuring a collaborative approach that 

will deliver more for patients more quickly. 

›› 

embed the new patient services directorate and review 

where we can have most impact for patients 

›› 

launch a signposting service, an awareness campaign 

and our new name – Bloodwise – in blood cancer 

awareness month in September. 

› › begin to pilot new ways to increase our income and 

improve fundraising efficiency 



Bloodwise 32 


FINANCIAL REVIEW 

Your support 

162 x 235 45mm straight flap.pdf 1 21/10/2014 09:26 

INCOME 

Following an exceptional year for generating income 

in FY14, when we achieved an increase of 19% 

in voluntary income, we found FY15 much more 

challenging in some areas of fundraising. Our total 

income of £20.6 million was £1.1 million (-5%) below 

FY14 (£21.7 million) and both voluntary and legacy 

income were down on the previous year. 

Printed using FSC certified paper, using fully sustainable, vegetable oil-based inks, 

power from 100% renewable resources and waterless printing technology. Please recycle. 

If undelivered please return to: Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, 39-40 Eagle Street, 

London WC1R 4TH. Registered charity 216032 (England & Wales) SC037529 (Scotland) 

LIFE IS MADE 

OF LITTLE 

MOMENTS 

We continue to demonstrate strength in our 

fundraising engagement with the UK public: as a 

result growth in our small gift teams including our 

regional fundraising, sports events and individual 

giving was 11%. 

Unfortunately this was offset by a significant 

reduction in income from the large gifts teams, 

including corporate, trusts and high value 

partnerships of 43%. During the year we had hoped 

to scope opportunities for statutory funding; this 

proved more challenging than we had anticipated 

and will require further exploration. 

Our cost of generating funds increased by £348,000 

in FY15. During the year we made planned new 

investments in generating funds as we began to 

implement a new fundraising strategy. This included 

the diversification of our sports events portfolio with 

new events including the Velothon in Wales; the World 

Triathlon Series and some additional Ironman events. 

We also began a restructure of our Major Funding 

teams and tested some Individual Giving initiatives. 

In the short term this has reduced our fundraising 

efficiency, but this is in expectation of future growth 

in income. Because of the substantial increase in 

charitable expenditure, the proportion of total 

expenditure represented by the cost of generating 

funds fell from 22.1% to 19.9% (see page 4). 

Our 2014 Winter Appeal 

Take this moment. 

Make it count. 

INDIVIDUAL GIVING 

Where for many charities individual giving is the 

bedrock of fundraised income, this is potentially an 

unrealised opportunity for our charity. We haven’t 

adopted some of the traditional approaches to 

individual giving such as direct mail, face-to-face 

and telephone fundraising. 

WAPOST/111401 

{Additional Address 2} 

{City} 

{Postcode} 

{Street Address} 

{Additional Address 1} 

{Individual Prefix} {First Name} {Last Name} 

Philosophically we don’t think it’s a good idea to 

interrupt the lives of cancer patients and their 

families, but at the same time we need to give people 

better opportunities to support us on a regular basis. 

During the year we piloted a Christmas appeal and have 

plans for a further late Spring appeal. There’s no doubt 

that we’ll need to be innovative and engaging if we’re 

to accelerate growth in this area. In FY15 we raised £0.5 

million from individual giving (FY14: £0.3 million). 

xxxxxxx 



Bloodwise 33 


REGIONAL GIVING 

Our regional fundraising continued to go from 

strength to strength. In total the team raised £4.6 

million, an increase of £0.4 million (9%) on FY14 

(£4.2 million). Although our awareness campaign in 

September is primarily to raise awareness of blood 

cancers and their symptoms, we believe this will also 

have a positive impact on regional giving in FY16. 

SPORTS AND CHALLENGES 

Our sports and challenges teams raised £5.2 million, 

representing a 11% increase on the previous year 

(FY14: £4.7 million). Thanks to the support of Frankie 

& Benny’s, part of The Restaurant Group, we saw 

significant growth in income from our London to 

Paris cycling event and our title sponsorship of the 

Blenheim Palace Triathlon generated a £0.2 million 

increase in income. 

CORPORATE AND HIGH VALUE PARTNERSHIPS 

We’ve been working with Wickes to beat blood cancers 

since 2006 and since then they’ve raised an incredible 

£4 million, with another strong performance in 

FY15. We’re fortunate to have a number of smaller 

partnerships but our priority will be to secure at least 

one new partnership before the end of the year. 

Income from trusts was slightly down this year – but 

we’re increasing resource in the team, to help us 

manage our relationship with trusts more effectively 

and have time to focus on larger applications for 

some of our most innovative patient activities. We 

were once again indebted to Fighting Leukaemia 

and Children with Cancer for their support of our 

research into childhood leukaemia. 

The reduction in large gifts, which are more cost 

effective to generate, led to a deterioration in our 

fundraising cost income ratio, something we’ll be 

working hard to rectify in FY16. We’ve already taken 

steps to restructure the large gifts team. This was 

completed before the start of FY16 and a new Head of 

Major Funding has already been appointed. 

LEGACIES 

The underlying trend for our legacy income is stable, 

with a healthy pipeline. However our annual legacy 

income has a track record of being underpinned by 

one large legacy of generally over £1 million. This 

didn’t happen in FY15; consequently legacy income 

was £6.2 million (FY14: £6.8 million). 

INVESTMENT INCOME 

Investment income was similar to the previous year, 

at £1.4 million (FY14: £1.5 million). However we assess 

investments on a total returns basis, income and 

gains, and on this measure investments generated 

£4.8 million, more than double the returns for FY14 

(£2.3 million). 

When all income and gains are taken into account we 

ended the year at £24.1 million, an increase of £1.6 

million (+7%) on FY14 (£22.5 million). 

MONEY TO OUR MISSION 

The rather disappointing fundraised income results 

are to some degree offset by the fact that through 

partnership we’ve leveraged resource to our mission 

in other ways that isn’t reflected on the statement of 

financial activity. 

This can be as a result of our research investment 

leveraging funding from elsewhere or by catalysing 

further downstream activities. 

For example a £5 million investment by Innovate UK 

has led to a cell-based therapy trial for acute myeloid 

leukaemia. There’s also been £2 million of support 

from a Wellcome Trust biotech spin-out company 

called 14MG to perform next-generation sequencing 

of samples associated with the Haematological 

Malignancy Research Network, with an associated 

fellowship worth up to £0.3 million. Actual income 

from research was similar to FY14, at slightly more 

than £0.2 million. 



Bloodwise 34 

FINANCIAL REVIEW 

Beating blood cancer 

Leeds 

1 commitment 

CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE 

It’s been an exceptional year for progressing our 

mission, and in spite of challenging income results 

we’ve been able to invest £32.3 million in gross new 

grant commitments, one of the biggest commitments 

we’ve ever made (FY14: £23.2 million). This represents 

a 39% increase on the previous year – the cyclical 

nature of programme renewals, as well as the £6.3 

million in TAP renewal have been significant drivers 

for this. Over the last 5 years, new commitments have 

varied between £21 million and £32 million because 

of this cycle, but in total add up to more than £130 

million over that period. 

From the gross amount of £32.3 million we deduct 

deferred commitments on programmes that are 

contingent on successful completion of the early 

stages of research. This is usually equivalent to two 

years’ worth of a five year commitment and was £7.5 

million in FY15 (FY14: £3.9 million). We also deduct 

unspent funds that remain on completion of grants, 

which was an unusually high figure this year at £2.1 

million (FY14: £0.7 million). 

The majority of our research investment is made 

through UK institutions, primarily universities, and 

our research investments and TAP centres are located 

across the four nations of the UK. 

1 commitment 

Leicester 

2 commitments 

Birmingham 

6 commitments 

Oxford 

5 commitments 

Cardiff 

1 commitment 

Southampton 

8 commitments 

Cambridge 

4 commitments 

London 

18 commitments 

Sussex 

1 commitment 

See page 44 for our grant making policy. 

GRANT COMMITMENTS IN 

FY15 BY LOCATION 



Bloodwise 35 


RESEARCH AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT 

Of the new commitments made this year, nearly £15 

million was invested in specialist programmes. These 

are awarded for up to five years to support a team of 

researchers to tackle more extensive, long-term goals. 

They go through robust review both by external peer 

review and a site visit. These specialist programmes 

have the most potential to deliver impact for blood 

cancer patients. 

We invested over £4 million in project grants, which 

are awarded for up to three years usually for the 

support of one technician, research assistant or 

post-doctoral scientist to carry out a clearly defined 

project. This is where innovative new ideas begin to 

become a reality and begin to build the foundations 

for future specialist programmes. 

Our career development awards ensure that we’re 

nurturing talent for the future. That way, we know 

the UK will continue to produce world-leading 

researchers. Our investment in career development 

awards this year was nearly £4 million. 

CLINICAL TRIALS 

Clinical trials test new drugs or combinations of drugs 

in patients. Trials are really important, because they’re 

the only way we can develop new treatments – and 

improve existing ones – for patients in the future. Trials 

can run for several years, over which time scientists are 

able to see whether the new treatments are better than 

existing ones. 

They’re also important for developing better ways 

of diagnosing different blood cancers; developing 

treatments that prevent and relieve the symptoms of 

blood cancer; managing side effects associated with 

different treatments; testing whether new drugs are 

safe; and establishing the safest dosage for each patient. 

There are three main types of clinical trial: 

›› 

phase 1 trials test the safety of new drugs or 

treatments and establish the appropriate dosage 

›› 

phase 2 trials confirm the optimum dosage of new 

drugs and identify any side effects 

›› 

phase 3 trials compare new drugs or treatments with 

the best currently available treatments. 

We tend to invest in early phase clinical trials, as these 

give the promising ideas for new treatments the best 

chance of ultimately benefiting patients. This year we 

invested in our first ‘first in human’ trial (sometimes 

called a Phase 0 trial): with this kind of trial we’re 

aiming to find out if a drug behaves in a human being 

in the way researchers expect it to, following their 

laboratory studies. 

From these trials, which take place with very small 

numbers of patients, we can find out if the drug reaches 

the cancer target; if it behaves as expected in the body; 

and how the cancer cells respond to the drug. 

Aligned to our clinical trials is our investment in 

trial-associated research projects. These are laboratory 

based research projects which are integral to clinical 

trials and essential for the analysis of primary and/or 

secondary end points and clinical outcome. 

This year, largely thanks to the TAP renewal, we 

invested £9.5 million in clinical trials and related 

projects: our biggest investment ever. 



Bloodwise 36 


TYPE OF RESEARCH INVESTMENT IN 

FY15: COMPARISON WITH FY14 

AMOUNT FY15 

AMOUNT FY14 

32% 

(£10.2m) 

44% 

(£14.3m) 

16% 

(£3.6m) 

13% 

(£3.1m) 

47% 

(£11m) 

11% 

(£3.4m) 

13% 

(£4.4m) 

24% 

(£5.5m) 

Programmes 

Projects 

Career development 

TAP, clinical trails and 

related research 



Bloodwise 37 


RESEARCH INVESTMENT IN FY15: 

BY BLOOD CANCER TYPE 

Our understanding of the biology of blood cancers 

means that we understand the control mechanisms 

that must be disrupted for cancer to take hold. This 

means that what we learn for one blood cancer can be 

relevant to many others – and many other cancers too. 

So in some respects it’s hard to divide our research 

portfolio by blood cancer type. However we know 

that many people like to check for investment in 

their particular blood cancer, so this chart gives a 

rough guide to the primary focus areas of our new 

commitments made this year. 

COMMITMENTS FY15 

COMMITMENTS FY14 

4%4% 

Leukaemia 

12% 

27% 

12% 

Multi (including TAP) 

Lymphoma 

11% 

8% 5% 51% 

20% 

MDS & MPN 

Children’s blood cancers 

37% 

9% 

Myeloma 

PATIENT EXPERIENCE 

We’ve increased our expenditure on patient activities 

this year by 84% to £1.5 million (FY14: £0.8 million). 

This has included the establishment of a patient 

services team to inform and engage patients; the 

revision and renewal of a number of our patient 

information booklets; and our patient need research. 

As we establish our patient services directorate, do 

more to improve the lives of patients and respond to 

our patient need research findings over the coming 

years this investment will continue to grow. 



Bloodwise 38 


RESERVES POLICY AND 

REVIEW OF STRATEGIC RISK 

MODEL 

As we reported last year, the Trustees have been 

taking steps over the last few years to release funds 

from the balance sheet to invest in patient activities. 

This has been driven by a desire to maximise patient 

impact but also to alleviate the perception of a lack of 

fundraising urgency because of large investment and 

cash balances. We’ve already amended the terms of our 

five-year programme grants so that the final two years 

are contingent on the success of the first three; this has 

enabled us to invest £15.4 million more in research over 

the last three years. 

We’ve now developed a strategic risk model that enables 

us to consider different scenarios over future years for 

income, operating expenditure and grant commitments. 

In conjunction with our revised reserves policy, this 

enables us to optimise the balance between short-term 

spending and longer-term sustainability. 

The Trustees have carefully considered the current 

sector thinking around reserves, including guidance 

from the Charity Commission; research from ACEVO, 

the Charity Finance Group and the Institute of 

Fundraising; and the practices of other major medical 

research charities. As a consequence we’re able to 

take a more progressive approach to the management 

of our assets, with a greater emphasis on cash flow 

management, rather than the traditional approach of 

keeping assets to cover every liability. 

We define our reserves as cash and investments, and 

our new reserves policy requires that we maintain cash 

and investments at a level: 

›› 

not more than 24 months grant payments plus six 

months operating expenses; and 

›› 

not less than 12 months grant payments plus six 

months operating expenses. 

In addition, our new policy requires total assets 

(excluding tangible fixed assets) to exceed current 

liabilities at all times. 

A traditional definition of reserves, based on net assets, 

compares total assets to total liabilities, without 

regard for the timeframe in which those liabilities will 

become payable. 

Our grant commitments are long-term, recognised as 

liabilities in one year but only payable up to three years 

later. Our priority is to have enough assets now to pay 

the liabilities that are due now, rather than enough 

assets to pay out all of our liabilities. Liquidity therefore 

is a more important measure than net assets. For this 

reason cash and investments are a more appropriate 

definition of reserves than net assets. 

The operating expenses part of the reserves policy is 

to allow the organisation to respond in a considered 

way to an adverse change in circumstances. We believe 

that provision for six months operating costs will allow 

sufficient time to enable emerging circumstances 

to be assessed and appropriate plans developed and 

implemented, without creating a ‘crisis response’ 

situation. 

With the ‘3+2’ approach to grant commitments, the 

maximum length of a grant liability recognised on 

the balance sheet is three years. If the upper limit on 

reserves is set at 36 months we’d effectively be fully 

providing for future grant commitments, similar to 

the current policy. The upper limit of 24 months is 

considered an appropriate compromise, maintaining 

pressure to spend funds raised in pursuit of our vision, 

but allowing us to create a more predictable research 

commitment pipeline by holding (a bit) more than the 

minimum in reserve. 

The reserves policy, operated in conjunction with 

the strategic risk model, allows us to optimise nearterm 

investment in grants whilst ensuring sufficient 

financial rigour to respond to potential downside 

scenarios, in particular to demonstrate that we’re not 

trading insolvently. 

Based on the current grants position, this policy 

requires us to hold between £27.2 million and £55.1 

million in liquid and readily realisable assets. At 31 

March 2015, our liquidity of £68.9 million was sufficient 

to cover the defined operating costs, plus 32 months 

of total outstanding grant liabilities and is therefore 

above the limits established by the Trustees. We expect 

reserves to fall within the limits in the next financial 

year, as we continue to invest for patient impact. 



Bloodwise 39 


INVESTMENT POLICY 

AND PERFORMANCE 

Our investments were valued at £65.7 million at 31 

March 2015 (£74.5 million at 31 March 2014) and consist 

of a long term main portfolio and a liquidity reserve 

portfolio. At the year end the value of the main portfolio 

was £33.2 million and delivered a total return in the 

year of 9.6% against an objective of 3.0%. In light of the 

new reserves policy during the year the Trustees chose 

to hold higher cash balances in the liquidity reserve, 

which at the year-end was £32.5 million. The liquidity 

reserve portfolio delivered a return of 0.8% against a 

target of 0.5%. 

These investments, together with cash held in bank 

current accounts and fundraised income, provide 

assurance that we can meet our future grant 

commitments when they fall due. 

Our investment policy doesn’t allow direct investment 

in tobacco companies. 



Bloodwise 40 


PRINCIPAL RISKS AND 

UNCERTAINTIES 

The Trustees are responsible for ensuring effective risk 

management, and that internal controls are in place to 

appropriately manage the risk exposure of our charity. 

Risks are given ratings from low to high according to 

the likelihood of their occurrence and their impact 

should they occur. The Board considers all risks on the 

register but focus on those that are considered to have a 

high likelihood of occurrence and a high level of impact. 

The risk register is dynamic and shows movement in 

risk ratings between periods, as well as a traffic light 

system to demonstrate confidence in the control. It is 

reviewed at the Audit & Risk Committee meetings, 

where adjustments are made as risks are mitigated and 

new ones emerge. 

The wider Board of Trustees review the risk register 

annually and have considered: the major risks to 

Bloodwise; the potential impact and probability 

associated with each risk; the existing internal controls 

and accountability for them; and the mitigating actions 

needed to reduce each risk to a level that the Trustees 

consider to be acceptable. 

The table shows risks that were rated high in probability 

of occurrence and impact as at February 2015. 

Risk 

Mitigation 

1. Achieving cut through to raise income and 

awareness in a crowded and competitive market 

place 

›› 

New income generation strategy 

›› 

Care of loyal supporters 

›› 

Innovation of new products 

›› 

Awareness campaign 

›› 

Name with broader appeal 

2. Inability to increase large gift income ›› 

Team restructure and new appointments made 

3. Focus and capacity to deliver significant projects 

awareness campaign, signposting service, name 

change by September 

›› 

Organisational prioritisation 

›› 

Adequate resourcing 

›› 

Progress review 

4. Changes in leadership team ›› 

Succession planning remit of Remuneration & 

Appointment Committee 

›› 

Defined recruitment processes 

›› 

Clarity of plans should interim cover be required 



Bloodwise 41 


In February the committee specifically discussed an 

additional risk assessment in relation to the risks 

associated with the proposed change of name to 

Bloodwise. 

As the decision to change the name to Bloodwise was 

to some degree based on feedback from patients and 

health professionals in our patient research work and 

a patient stakeholder group was involved in the review 

process, it was not felt that there were any high risks 

to the delivery of our charitable activities in and of 

themselves from the name change. 

The greatest risks were perceived as emanating from 

the lack of recognition of Bloodwise from existing 

supporters and subsequent potential for loss of income 

and reduction in patient activity investments as a 

consequence. 

The major financial risks are each subject to ongoing 

monitoring and management and the development of 

a strategic risk model enables a more sophisticated 

risk control around the impact of variations in income, 

investment values and research grant commitments. 

Our investments are regularly reviewed by our 

Investment Committee. 

MAJOR NAME CHANGE RISK AND MITIGATION 

Risk 

Mitigation 

1. Loss of income from existing supporters ›› 

Supporters involved in naming review process 

›› 

Communication plan for new name prioritises existing 

supporters 

›› 

Separate face to face communication and engagement plan 

for voluntary Branches 

›› 

Blood cancer awareness campaign 

›› 

6 months lead in to name change 

2. Failure to reach new supporters ›› 

Name applicable to all blood cancer patients 

›› 

Blood Cancer Awareness campaign 

›› 

Broader corporate opportunity & restructured team to 

optimise opportunity 

›› 

Individual giving opportunity enhanced by awareness 

campaign in the longer term 

3. Legacies incorrectly attributed ›› 

Retain Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research as a dormant 

company indefinitely 

›› 

Registration numbers remain the same 

›› 

Legacy notification service advised 

›› 

Continue to roll-out legacy events and communications 



Bloodwise 42 


SUBSIDIARIES AND 

RELATED PARTIES 

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trading Ltd is a 

wholly owned subsidiary of Bloodwise (formerly known 

as Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research). The principal 

activity of this trading company is a retail catalogue. 

The company has had a successful year and taxable 

profit of £0.4 million (FY14: £0.3 million) was donated 

under gift aid to Bloodwise, details of which are in note 

7 to the accounts. The accounts presented from page 50 

are consolidated accounts. 

SALARIES 

The Trustees have paid due attention to the 

requirements of the Charity Commission and the 

recommendations of the NCVO with regard to the 

disclosure of salaries. 

We’ve conducted a thorough review of pay policy over 

the last two years, which we continue to monitor and 

evaluate. To update our written pay policy we have 

benchmarked salaries; agreed the positioning of 

salaries relative to the data; introduced a structure 

of six salary bands (grades) and all employees were 

assimilated to one of three levels of pay at every grade. 

All staff are appointed within this structure with the 

exception of the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive 

salary was determined by the (then) Finance & General 

Purpose Committee by speaking to agencies on CEO 

pay in the sector and taking advice on executive pay 

ratios to senior management. Performance was also 

considered. 

PENSIONS 

We contribute a defined amount to individual 

employees’ personal pension schemes, which are 

currently provided by AEGON. Auto-enrolment was 

introduced in July 2014 and the majority of employees 

have joined the scheme. The charity has previously 

been a member of a multi-employer pension scheme, 

the Federated Flexiplan No.1 Pension. Towards the 

end of the year we were given the opportunity to exit 

the scheme, concluding all obligations and liabilities 

at a saving of nearly £0.1 million. Details of pension 

contributions can be found on page 57. 

GOING CONCERN 

Our current financial position has been outlined in the 

review above. The Trustees believe that Bloodwise ends 

the year in a financially robust position. Our strategic 

risk model assesses projected income and expenditure 

for the next five years and we consider that the level of 

our reserves equips us to withstand any substantial fall 

in income. 

We have a reasonable expectation that we have adequate 

resources and control mechanisms to continue in 

operational existence for the foreseeable future. 

Therefore we continue to adopt the going concern 

basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial 

statements. 

The Remuneration & Appointments Committee reviews 

sector data on executive pay to monitor appropriate 

alignment of executive pay. As in previous years, an 

analysis of senior executive salaries is presented on 

page 57. 

We’ve recently introduced a pay progression element 

to our policy that considers achievement of objectives, 

as well as the behaviours of each employee in 

demonstrating our belief and principles. This will allow 

us to assess performance in relation to pay. 



Bloodwise 43 

HOW WE HOW WORK 

WE Our charity 

LEGAL STRUCTURE AND 

GOVERNANCE 

Bloodwise is a company limited by guarantee and 

incorporated in England on 17 October 1962. Our 

articles of association were last amended on 12 July 

2014. 

Formerly Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, 

Bloodwise is a registered charity in England and 

Wales (charity number 216032) and in Scotland 

(charity number SC037529). The change of 

registration at Companies House was completed 

on 2 April 2015, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research 

remains as an operating name with the Charity 

Commission and OSCR (the Scottish charity 

regulator) until September 2015. 

The Trustees are responsible for the governance 

and strategy of the charity. There are 11 Trustees 

who together bring a diversity of gender, skills and 

experience to enable the Board to operate effectively. 

Trustees are appointed for a renewable term of three 

years and are the directors of the company for the 

purposes of the Companies Act 2006. 

John Purser left the Board in July 2014 and Mike 

Williams will be retiring from the Board in July 2015, 

the Trustees are very grateful for their contribution 

and commitment to Bloodwise. 

The Trustees meet six times a year and delegate dayto-day 

responsibility for the running of the charity 

to the executive team. The Trustees also delegate 

specific responsibilities to various sub-committees. 

The operations of the organisation are covered by 

the Audit & Risk, Investment and Remuneration 

& Appointments committees. The Investment 

Committee benefits greatly from the expertise of 

Andrew Hutton, an independent advisor. 

During the year we concluded the business of 

the Patient Impact sub-Committee as it had been 

effective in bringing Trustee focus and responsibility 

to optimising patient impact, which now sits with the 

main board. 

The Board has increased input into our patient 

benefit strategy; more involvement in allocating 

resource to a broader range of solutions and greater 

scrutiny of performance and delivery. 

Susan Eastwood and her father 

RECRUITMENT, 

INDUCTION AND 

TRAINING OF TRUSTEES 

The Remuneration & Appointments Committee 

is responsible for recruiting Trustees, aiming to 

ensure a broad mix of skills and backgrounds. The 

committee meets regularly to review the selection of 

Trustees and succession planning for both the Board 

and the wider organisation. 

We’ve used a variety of recruitment methods to 

recruit Trustees, most recently through executive 

search and selection. On appointment new Trustees 

spend induction time with the Executive team and 

we aim to hold at least one of our Trustee meetings 

a year at a site where they can also experience our 

research or other patient activities. 

Trustees are also encouraged to attend our annual 

Impact Day to engage with fundraisers, researchers, 

clinicians, patients, volunteers and employees. We 

hold an annual development day, which this year 

was focused on shaping a strategic response to the 

findings of our patient need programme of research. 

Having recently conducted a thorough review, 

we continue to monitor the effectiveness of our 

governance. In the coming year we’ll reorganise our 

research committees to ensure that they continue to 

reflect the current research environment. 



Bloodwise 44 

HOW WE WORK 

GOVERNANCE OF OUR 

RESEARCH AND GRANT 

GIVING POLICY 

Every year we receive more than 200 applications for 

funding from researchers at universities and hospitals 

across the UK. We support the most original and 

innovative research, which will truly benefit patients 

affected by leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and related 

blood disorders. 

Our selection process involves hundreds of experts in 

blood cancer research around the world who give their 

time freely to evaluate the applications. Their informed 

assessments are considered by our three expert 

committees, who make recommendations to our Board 

of Trustees about which applications to fund. This 

peer review process is used by all reputable funding 

agencies worldwide and ensures that we support only 

the best blood cancer research. We’re a member of 

the Association of Medical Research Charities, which 

requires all members to use rigorous peer review such 

as this to select the best research to fund. 

Our three committees consider different types of 

application. 

RESEARCH COMMITTEE 

Our Research Committee considers applications for 

research grants and specialist programmes and advises 

on research strategy. This committee also considers the 

recommendations of awards made by the Training and 

Career Development sub-Committee. The committee is 

chaired by Professor Paul Farrell and has ten members 

with expertise in research disciplines relevant to 

Bloodwise. Each member serves on a voluntary basis 

for three years. 

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT SUB- 

COMMITTEE 

Our Training and Career Development sub-Committee 

considers applications for all of our career development 

awards. The committee is chaired by Dr Adele Fielding 

and has four members with experience in graduate and 

post-graduate training and mentoring. 

CLINICAL TRIALS COMMITTEE 

Our Clinical Trials Committee considers applications 

for clinical trials and trial associated research projects. 

The committee is chaired by Professor Irene Roberts and 

has twelve members with expertise in trials and drug 

discovery. Each member serves on a voluntary basis for 

four years. 



Bloodwise 45 

HOW WE WORK 

OUR APPLICATION PROCESS 

STEP 1: THE APPLICATION 

Applicants outline the objectives of their research in 

detail, highlighting how they plan to achieve them and 

how their research will benefit patients with a blood 

cancer. 

Applicants for clinical trials must also submit a draft 

trial protocol. This describes what treatments patients 

entered onto this trial will receive, and when. 

STEP 2: PEER REVIEW 

All applications for all categories of award are sent to 

expert referees worldwide for evaluation based on the 

following criteria: is it the right research, at the right 

time, in the right place, with the right people? Up to six 

referees will be consulted for individual applications. 

We draw on a database of over 500 experts, who we rely 

on for informed advice and recommendations about 

each application. 

We check all potential external peer reviewers for any 

potential conflict of interest with an application, before 

we ask for their opinion on it. Reviewers are also asked 

to declare any conflicts of interest they may have with 

the application or applicant/s which might not be 

known to us. 

In addition, specialist programmes are assessed at a 

site visit, where a committee of experts from around 

the world visit the team under review at their host 

institution or university. A report on the conclusions 

and recommendations of the site visit committee is 

then presented to our Research Committee. 

Candidates who are short listed for training and career 

development awards are interviewed by the sub- 

Committee, which then makes recommendations to the 

Research Committee. 

Applications for phase I and II clinical trials make 

presentations to the Clinical Trials Committee and take 

questions on their trial design. 

Committee members aren’t allowed access to review 

documents for their own applications or for any 

applications from the same institution. In additional, 

they aren’t present when their own application 

or applications from their institutions are being 

discussed. 

STEP 4: BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

All recommendations for all awards made by the three 

committees are reported to our Board of Trustees, who 

make the final decisions on which applications will be 

approved for funding. 

We’re profoundly grateful for the expertise and time of 

the very many volunteers who ensure that we uphold 

the very best standards of review at all times and 

ensure that we optimise every penny that we receive 

for the benefit of patients. 

As our research portfolio becomes ever more 

translational, we recognise that the division of 

responsibilities between our committees is becoming 

increasingly blurred. With that in mind, in the coming 

year we’ll be exploring how to develop our committees 

so they’re structured in a way that enhances our ability 

to optimise the connection between our research, 

trials-associated research projects and clinical trials. 

STEP 3: COMMITTEE MEETING 

All applications, together with the reviewer’s reports, 

are considered by every member of the designated 

committee. The committee meetings allow the 

members to discuss the merits of each application 

submitted in that round. They then draw up a list of 

applications recommended for funding. 



Bloodwise 46 

HOW WE WORK 

PUBLIC BENEFIT 

In reviewing our aims and objectives and planning 

future activities, the Trustees have taken into account 

the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public 

benefit. The Trustees always ensure that the activities 

undertaken are in line with the charitable objectives 

and aims of Bloodwise. Although our activities are 

specifically inspired and motivated by the needs 

of blood cancer patients, there is no doubt that our 

understanding of blood cancers often leads the way 

in enhancing understanding of other cancers and 

diseases. 

OUR EMPLOYEES AND 

VOLUNTEERS 

The tremendous progress that we continue to make 

for patients is only possible thanks to the dedication 

and hard work of our volunteers, supporters and 

employees. 

In the last year alone our voluntary Branches 

contributed £1.2 million of income (FY14: £1.4 million), 

but they are also our local ambassadors, creating 

connections and awareness in their local communities. 

We treasure our volunteers who work with our 

employees in our various offices, who demonstrate 

their commitment to Bloodwise by being prepared to 

help in any way that they can. We also would be unable 

to manage many of our sporting and special events 

without time given voluntarily by very many special 

people. 

We employ 114 people and are committed to supporting 

their learning and development needs; making our 

reward and recognition policies as fair as possible; 

and where possible offering opportunities to work on 

project groups beyond their own sphere of specialist 

knowledge. 

Inspired by our patients, Bloodwise is a passionate 

place to be, but building friendships with potentially 

terminally ill people brings both great rewards and 

emotional challenges. We support our employees with 

an assistance programme and most recently we have 

been able to offer psychological and emotional support. 

We never forget our patients and their families, who are 

at the heart of all that we do. 

TRUSTEES’ INDEMNITY 

The Company purchased and maintained throughout 

the financial year Trustees’ liability insurance in 

respect of itself and its Trustees. 

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR 

Deloitte LLP have expressed their willingness to 

continue to act as auditor. 

The Trustee’s report, including the strategic report, was 

approved by the Board of Trustees on 23 June 2015. 

Signed by order of the Trustees 

(incorporating information to be reported in the Director’s report as per the requirements of the Companies Act) 

Catherine Gilman 

Chief Executive & Company Secretary 

23 June 2015 



Bloodwise 47 

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES 

Statement of Trustee 

responsibilities 

The Trustees (who are also the directors of Bloodwise 

for the purposes of company law) are responsible for 

preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial 

statements in accordance with applicable law and United 

Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom 

Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial 

statements for each financial year which give a true 

and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable 

company and the group and of the incoming resources 

and application of resources, including the income and 

expenditure, of the charitable company and group for 

that period. In preparing these financial statements, 

the Trustees are required to: 

› select suitable accounting policies and then apply 

them consistently 

› observe the methods and principles of the 

Charities SORP 

They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of 

the charitable company, and of the group, and hence for 

taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection 

of fraud and other irregularities. 

In so far as the Trustees are aware: 

› there is no relevant audit information of which the 

charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and 

› the Trustees have taken all steps they ought to have 

taken to make themselves aware of any relevant 

audit information and to establish that the auditor 

is aware of that information. 

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and 

integrity of the corporate and financial information 

included on the charitable company’s website. 

Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the 

preparation and dissemination of financial statements 

may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

› make judgments and accounting estimates that 

are reasonable and prudent 

› state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards 

have been followed, subject to any material 

departures disclosed and explained in the 

financial statements 

› prepare the financial statements on the going 

concern basis unless it is inappropriate to 

presume that the charitable company will 

continue in business. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate 

accounting records that are sufficient to show and 

explain the charitable company’s transactions and 

disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the 

financial position of the charitable company and to 

enable them to ensure that the financial statements 

comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities 

and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the 

Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. 



Bloodwise 48 

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees 

and Members of Bloodwise for the year ended 

31 March 2015 

We have audited the financial statements of Bloodwise 

for the year ended 31 March 2015 which comprise 

the Group Statement of Financial Activities, the 

Group and charitable company’s Balance Sheets, the 

Group Cash Flow Statement and the related notes 1 

to 16. The financial reporting framework that has 

been applied in their preparation is applicable law 

and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United 

Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s 

members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of 

Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and to the charity’s 

Trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 44(1) 

(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) 

Act 2005 and regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts 

(Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). Our audit 

work has been undertaken so that we might state to 

the charitable company’s members and the Trustees 

those matters we are required to state to them in an 

auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest 

extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume 

responsibility to anyone other than the charitable 

company, the charitable company’s members as a body 

and the charitable company’s Trustees as a body, for 

our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we 

have formed. 

RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES AND AUDITOR 

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees 

Responsibilities, the Trustees (who are also the 

directors of the charitable company for the purposes of 

company law) are responsible for the preparation of the 

financial statements and for being satisfied that they 

give a true and fair view. 

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1) 

(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) 

Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and 

report in accordance with regulations made under 

those Acts. 

Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion 

on the financial statements in accordance with 

applicable law and International Standards on Auditing 

(UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply 

with the Auditing Practices Board’s (APB’s) Ethical 

Standards for Auditors. 

SCOPE OF THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

An audit involves obtaining evidence about the 

amounts and disclosures in the financial statements 

sufficient to give reasonable assurance that 

the financial statements are free from material 

misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This 

includes an assessment of: whether the accounting 

policies are appropriate to the group’s and the parent 

charitable company’s circumstances and have been 

consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the 

reasonableness of significant accounting estimates 

made by the Trustees; and the overall presentation 

of the financial statements. In addition, we read all 

the financial and non-financial information in the 

Annual Report to identify material inconsistencies 

with the audited financial statements and to identify 

any information that is apparently materially 

incorrect based on, or materially inconsistent with, the 

knowledge acquired by us in the course of performing 

the audit. If we become aware of any apparent material 

misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the 

implications for our report. 

OPINION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

In our opinion the financial statements: 

› give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s 

and the parent charitable company’s affairs as 

at 31 March 2015 and of the group’s and the 

parent charitable company’s incoming resources 

and application of resources, including the group’s 

and the parent’s income and expenditure, for the 

year then ended; 

› have been properly prepared in accordance with 

United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting 

Practice; and 

› have been prepared in accordance with the 

Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee 

Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 

8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 

2006 (as amended). 



Bloodwise 49 

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees 

and Members of Bloodwise for the year ended 

31 March 2015 (continued) 

OPINION ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE 

COMPANIES ACT 2006 

In our opinion the information given in the Strategic 

Report and the Report of the Trustees for the financial 

year for which the financial statements are prepared 

is consistent with the financial statements. 

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT 

BY EXCEPTION 

We have nothing to report in respect of the following 

matters where the Companies Act 2006 and the 

Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as 

amended) requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: 

› The parent charitable company has not kept proper 

and adequate accounting records or returns 

adequate for our audit have not been received from 

branches not visited by us; or 

› The parent charitable company’s financial 

statements are not in agreement with the 

accounting records or returns; or 

› Certain disclosures of Trustees’ remuneration 

specified by law are not made; or 

› We have not received all the information and 

explanations we require for our audit. 

Reza Motazedi fca (Senior statutory auditor) for and 

on behalf of Deloitte LLP Chartered Accountants and 

Statutory Auditor, London, United Kingdom 

Deloitte LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms 

of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006 and 

consequently to act as the auditor of a registered 

charity. 

23 June 2015 



Bloodwise 50 

Group statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2015 

Group statement of financial activities for the year 

ended 31 March 2015 

INCORPORATING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT 

Notes 

Restricted 

Funds 

2015 2015 2015 2014 

Unrestricted 

Funds 

Total 

Total 

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

INCOMING RESOURCES 

Incoming resources from generated funds 

Voluntary income 723 11,410 12,133 12,731 

Legacies 339 5,898 6,237 6,809 

1,062 17,308 18,370 19,540 

Activities for generating funds 

Trading income (LLRT) 7 - 796 796 581 

Investment income 1 - 1,422 1,422 1,535 

TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 1,062 19,526 20,588 21,656 

RESOURCES EXPENDED 

Cost of generating funds 

Fundraising and marketing - 5,728 5,728 5,380 

Trading expenditure (LLRT) 7 - 355 355 257 

Investment management fees - 199 199 235 

- 6,282 6,282 5,872 

Charitable activities 2 

Research 560 32,606 33,166 24,168 

Deferred funding - (7,535) (7,535) (3,862) 

Unspent funds at completion of grant - (2,057) (2,057) (679) 

Patient benefit activities - 1,503 1,503 815 

560 24,517 25,077 20,442 

Governance costs - 202 202 251 

TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 560 31,001 31,561 26,565 

NET INCOMING / (OUTGOING) RESOURCES, 

BEING NET EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR, 

BEFORE TRANSFERS 3 502 (11,475) (10,973) (4,909) 



Bloodwise 51 

Group statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2015 

Group statement of financial activities for the year 

ended 31 March 2015 (continued) 

INCORPORATING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT 

Notes 

Restricted 

Funds 

2015 2015 2015 2014 

Unrestricted 

Funds 

Total 

Total 

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

NET INCOMING / (OUTGOING) RESOURCES, 

BEING NET EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR, 

BEFORE TRANSFERS 3 502 (11,475) (10,973) (4,909) 

Transfers 14 (502) 502 - - 

NET OUTGOING RESOURCES, BEING 

NET EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR, 

BEFORE GAINS - (10,973) (10,973) (4,909) 

Realised and unrealised 

gains on investments 6 

- 

- 3,469 3,469 797 

NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - (7,504) (7,504) (4,112) 

Balance brought forward at 

1 April 2014 - 11,348 11,348 15,460 

Balance carried forward at 

31 March 2015 13 - 3,844 3,844 11,348 

All amounts relate to the continuing activities of the group. 

The group has no recognised gains and losses other than those included in the results above, and therefore 

no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented. 

The notes on pages 56 to 65 form part of these financial statements. 



Bloodwise 52 

Balance sheets as at 31 March 2015 

Balance sheets as at 31 March 2015 

GROUP 

BLOODWISE 

2015 2014 2015 2014 

Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

FIXED ASSETS 

Tangible assets 5 1,859 1,956 1,859 1,956 

Investments 6 65,752 74,477 65,752 74,477 

Investment in subsidiary company 7 - - 76 76 

67,611 76,433 67,687 76,509 

CURRENT ASSETS 

Stocks 241 109 194 82 

Debtors 8 1,510 1,711 1,845 1,891 

Cash at bank and in hand 3,170 1,185 2,729 896 

4,921 3,005 4,768 2,869 

CREDITORS 

Amounts falling due within one year 9 (28,957) (26,279) (28,880) (26,219) 

NET CURRENT LIABILITIES (24,036) (23,274) (24,112) (23,350) 

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 43,575 53,159 43,575 53,159 

CREDITORS 

Amounts falling due after more than one 

year 

10 (39,731) (41,811) (39,731) (41,811) 

NET ASSETS 3,844 11,348 3,844 11,348 

Represented by: 

RESTRICTED FUNDS 14 - - - - 

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS 14 3,844 11,348 3,844 11,348 

(includes revaluation reserve of £6,085,000 (FY14: £10,959,000)) 

TOTAL FUNDS 3,844 11,348 3,844 11,348 

The financial statements were approved, authorised for issue and signed on behalf of the Trustees 

on 23 June 2015 by: 

P B Allen 

Chairman 

P M Burrell 

Honorary Treasurer 

The notes on pages 56 to 65 form part of these financial statements. 

Company registered Number : 738089 



Bloodwise 53 

Group cash flow statement for the year ended 31 March 2015 

Group cash flow statement for the year 


2015 2014 

Notes £'000 £'000 

Cash flow from operating activities (a) (11,631) (9,479) 

Returns on investments (b) 1,422 1,535 

(10,209) (7,944) 

Capital expenditure and financial 

investment (c) 26,409 8,611 

Cash flow for the year 16,200 667 

Opening cash on deposit 11,583 10,916 

Closing cash on deposit 27,783 11,583 

NOTES TO THE CASH FLOW STATEMENT: 

(a) Reconciliation of net outgoing resources to cash flow from operating activities. 

Net outgoing resources for the year (10,973) (4,909) 

Investment income (1,422) (1,535) 

Adjustment for non-cash items: 

Depreciation 97 96 

(Increase) in stocks (132) (27) 

Decrease/(Increase) in debtors 201 (526) 

Increase/(Decrease) in creditors 598 (2,578) 

(11,631) (9,479) 

(b) Returns on investments. 

Listed investment income 1,386 1,481 

Interest received 1 10 

Rental income 35 44 

1,422 1,535 

(c) Capital expenditure and financial 

investment. 

Net proceeds from sales and 

purchases of investments 26,409 8,611 

26,409 8,611 



Bloodwise 54 

Accounting policies for the year ended 31 March 2015 

Accounting 

policies 

BASIS OF ACCOUNTING 

The report and accounts are prepared under the 

historical cost convention modified to include the 

revaluation of investments and in accordance with the 

Companies Act 2006, applicable accounting standards 

and Accounting and Reporting by Charities; Statement 

of Recommended Practice revised 2005 (SORP). 

The report and accounts are prepared on the going 

concern basis as described in the Report of Trustees on 

page 42. 

As permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 

and Paragraph 397 of the SORP, no separate Statement 

of Financial Activities has been prepared in respect of 

Bloodwise. 

INCOMING RESOURCES 

Legacy income is brought into the accounts when 

receivable. This is deemed to be when notice of 

impending distribution has been received as at 31 

March and the funds have been received or can be 

quantified with reasonable certainty by 15 May. 

Investment income is brought into the accounts when 

receivable. 

Income from voluntary Branches and donations from 

other voluntary fundraising sources are brought into 

the accounts when received at Head Office. 

Gift Aid is brought into the accounts on a receivable 

basis as part of the income to which it relates. 

Fundraising income is shown gross except for small 

fundraising events run by volunteers where monies are 

received at Head Office net of expenses. 

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trading Ltd income 

is included when receivable, excluding VAT. 

RESOURCES EXPENDED 

Costs of generating funds comprises costs associated 

with attracting voluntary income and costs of other 

income generation e.g. costs of goods sold and other 

costs associated with Leukaemia & Lymphoma 

Research Trading Ltd. Expenditure is brought into the 

accounts when incurred. 

Purchase costs and net proceeds of disposal of 

investments include the direct costs of investing and 

disposing respectively. 

Charitable activities expenditure includes expenditure 

associated with their performance and comprises 

direct expenses including grant awards and staff costs 

as well as support costs attributable to these activities. 

Research, training and educational grants are included 

in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when 

detailed costs are approved by the Board of Trustees. 

Clinical trials grants are included in the SoFA when 

approved by the Board of Trustees and once the ethical 

approval of the final protocol is obtained. Other 

charitable expenditure is brought into the accounts 

when incurred. 

Governance costs include those incurred in the 

governance of assets and strategy matters of the 

charity, associated with constitutional and statutory 

requirements. 

Where costs cannot be directly attributed, including 

support and central function costs, they have been 

allocated to activity cost categories on a basis 

consistent with the use of the resources e.g. estimated 

time spent or amount used. 

Irrecoverable VAT is written off when the expenditure 

to which it relates is incurred and is recorded as part of 

that expense. 



Bloodwise 55 

Accounting policies for the year ended 31 March 2015 

DEPRECIATION OF TANGIBLE 

FIXED ASSETS 

Freehold land is not depreciated and all items of 

equipment costing below £10,000 are charged in full to 

expenditure in the year of purchase. Other categories of 

fixed assets are written off over the following periods: 

› Freehold buildings – 50 years 

› Refurbishment costs – 5 years 

› Software development costs – 5 years 

› Equipment – 2 years 

› Vehicles – 4 years 

BRANCH ACCOUNTING 

The 138 voluntary Branches and voluntary Fundraising 

Groups across the UK raise money for Bloodwise from 

a variety of local activities and sources with minimal 

cost expenditure and submit accounts annually to 

Head Office. The Branches’ net assets, being primarily 

cash not remitted to Head Office by 31 March 2015, 

have not been consolidated in these accounts and these 

have been estimated at £192,000 (2014: £268,000). 

PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS 

Pension contributions payable under a defined 

contribution scheme are charged to the SoFA in the 

accounting period to which they relate. 

FUNDS 

Unrestricted general funds are available for charitable 

purposes. 

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in 

accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors. 

Full details of funds are shown in note 14. 

TAXATION 

As a registered charity, income and gains are exempt 

from Corporation Tax to the extent they are applied to 

its charitable objectives. The trading subsidiary has not 

incurred a tax charge since all its profits are gifted to 

the charity. 

INVESTMENTS 

Investments are included at market value at the balance 

sheet date which gives rise to unrealised gains and 

losses at the end of the financial period, which are 

included in the SoFA. 

STOCK 

Stock is valued at the lower of cost and net realisable 

value. The cost of publications held for charitable 

purposes is expensed as incurred. 

GROUP ACCOUNTS 

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trading Ltd is wholly 

owned by Bloodwise and is consolidated in these 

accounts on a line by line basis. 



Bloodwise 56 


Notes to the accounts for the year 


1 INVESTMENT INCOME 

2015 2014 

£'000 

£'000 

UK listed equities 754 874 

Non-UK listed equities 142 135 

Fixed interest stocks 490 472 

Bank interest - 3 

Rental income 35 44 

Interest on legacy accounts 1 7 

1,422 1,535 

2 RESOURCES EXPENDED 

Research 

Grants 

Staff 

Direct 

costs 

Allocated 

Central 

Support 

costs 

Total 

2015 

Total 

2014 

£’000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

Costs of generating funds 

Fundraising and Marketing - 2,820 2,245 663 5,728 5,380 

LLRT costs (note 7) - - 355 - 355 257 

Investment management fees - - 199 - 199 235 

Charitable activities 

Research 32,297 316 478 75 33,166 24,168 

Deferred funding (7,535) - - - (7,535) (3,862) 

Unspent funds at completion 

of grant (2,057) - - - (2,057) (679) 

Patient benefit activities - 840 523 140 1,503 815 

Governance costs - 140 44 18 202 251 

Total 22,705 4,116 3,844 896 31,561 26,565 

Direct costs are those costs associated with providing the activity such as fundraising materials, advertising, 

postage and stationery, venue and travel expenses. Central support costs, which include office and premises costs, 

are allocated on a basis consistent with use of resources, primarily headcount. 

Staff costs and allocated central support costs are allocated on the basis of a combination of time spent on each 

activity and headcount. 

Governance direct costs include auditor’s remuneration, legal and professional fees and Trustees’ expenses. 



Bloodwise 57 




3 NET OUTGOING RESOURCES 

2015 2014 

£'000 

£'000 

Net outgoing resources is stated after charging: 

Depreciation of tangible fixed assets owned by the charity 97 96 

Auditor’s remuneration: 

Audit fee in respect of year 24 20 

4 STAFF COSTS 

2015 2014 

£'000 

£'000 

Salaries 3,682 3,126 

National Insurance contributions 362 301 

Pension scheme contributions 72 170 

4,116 3,597 

Analysis of average number of employees during 

Number 

Number 

the year by function: 

Fundraising and marketing 72 66 

Patient benefit activities, including research 25 16 

Central support and governance 14 12 

111 94 

The number of employees whose total emoluments for the year, as defined for taxation 

purposes, exceeded £60,000 were: 

£60,001 - £70,000 1 - 

£70,001 - £80,000 - - 

£80,001 - £90,000 2 4 

£90,001 - £100,000 2 - 

£100,001 - £110,000 - - 

£110,001 - £120,000 - 1 

£120,001 - £130,000 1 - 

Contributions, relating to the staff listed above, amounting to £73,631 (2014: £91,572) were made to the pension 

scheme (see note 15). 

Members of the Board of Trustees receive no emoluments. Seven Trustees (2014: ten Trustees) claimed (or had paid 

on their behalf) travelling, accommodation and entertaining expenses totalling £3,994 (FY14: £6,129). 



Bloodwise 58 




5 TANGIBLE ASSETS – GROUP AND BLOODWISE 

Freehold 

Land & 

Buildings 

Fixtures, 

Equipment 

& Vehicles 

Total 

£’000 £’000 £’000 

Cost 

At 1 April 2014 1,965 765 2,730 

At 31 March 2015 1,965 765 2,730 

Depreciation 

At 1 April 2014 197 577 774 

Charge for the year 20 77 97 

At 31 March 2015 217 654 871 

Net Book Value 

At 31 March 2015 1,748 111 1,859 

At 31 March 2014 1,768 188 1,956 

6 INVESTMENTS – GROUP AND BLOODWISE 

2015 2014 

£’000 £’000 

Market value of investments 

at 1 April 64,079 71,893 

Additions at cost 7,653 7,147 

Disposal proceeds (34,062) (15,758) 

Net investment gains 3,469 797 

Market value of investments 

at 31 March 41,139 64,079 

Cash held as part of investment 

portfolio 24,613 10,398 

Total with investment managers 65,752 74,477 



Bloodwise 59 




6 INVESTMENTS – GROUP AND BLOODWISE (continued) 

Investments comprise the following: 

2015 2014 

£’000 £’000 

Listed UK equities 7,105 18,258 

Listed UK fixed interest 

and government stocks 12,259 13,934 

Listed non-UK equities 9,075 14,516 

Listed non-UK fixed interest stocks 2,177 4,540 

Other funds 10,523 12,831 

Total investments 41,139 64,079 

Cost of investments 35,054 53,120 

Investment revaluation reserve 

(difference between market value 

and cost) 6,085 10,959 

7 INVESTMENT IN SUBSIDIARY COMPANY – BLOODWISE ONLY 

The investment in Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trading Ltd represents the whole of the issued ordinary 

share capital of a company incorporated in the United Kingdom which engages in the sale of Christmas cards and 

gifts to raise funds for Bloodwise. The key financial information of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trading Ltd 

is as follows: 

2015 2014 

£’000 £’000 

Turnover 796 581 

Bank interest received 1 1 

797 582 

Cost of sales and direct expenses (255) (178) 

Distribution costs (74) (57) 

Overhead expenses (26) (22) 

Donated to Bloodwise under 

Gift Aid (442) (325) 

Movement in shareholders funds - - 

Share capital 76 76 

Retained profit - - 

Shareholders funds represented 

by net assets 76 76 



Bloodwise 60 




8 DEBTORS – Amounts receivable within one year 

GROUP 

BLOODWISE 

2015 2014 2015 2014 

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

Income tax recoverable - 7 - 7 

Trade debtors 32 122 10 - 

Other debtors 210 64 195 64 

Due from subsidiary undertaking - - 442 302 

Prepayments and accrued income 1,268 1,518 1,198 1,518 

1,510 1,711 1,845 1,891 

Prepayments and accrued income includes accrued income in respect of legacies receivable of £961,000 

(2014: £952,000). Legacies for which a notice of distribution had been received at 31 March 2015 but no funds 

had been received by 15 May 2015 were estimated to be £2,111,000 (2014: £3,476,000). 

9 CREDITORS – Amounts falling due within one year 

GROUP 

BLOODWISE 

2015 2014 2015 2014 

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

Research commitments (note 11) 28,338 25,598 28,338 25,598 

Other creditors 415 520 380 463 

Accruals and provisions 204 87 162 84 

Pension liability (note 15) - 74 - 74 

28,957 26,279 28,880 26,219 

10 CREDITORS – Amounts falling due after more than one year 

GROUP AND BLOODWISE 

2015 2014 

£'000 £'000 

Research commitments (note 11) 39,731 41,386 

Pension liability (note 15) - 425 

39,731 41,811 



Bloodwise 61 




11 MOVEMENT IN AND ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH COMMITMENTS 

– GROUP AND BLOODWISE 

2015 2014 

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

Balance at 1 April 66,984 69,704 

Grants approved by the Board of 

Trustees during the year (note 12) 32,297 23,224 

Research support costs 869 944 

Total research expenditure 33,166 24,168 

Deferred funding (7,535) (3,862) 

Unspent funds at completion of grant (2,057) (679) 

Research support costs (869) (944) 

22,705 18,683 

89,689 88,387 

Less: Paid during the year (21,620) (21,403) 

Balance at 31 March 2015 68,069 66,984 

Due within one year (note 9) 28,338 25,598 

Due after more than one year (note 10) 39,731 41,386 

68,069 66,984 

Total research commitments of £68,069,000 (2014: £66,984,000) are amounts approved by the Board of Trustees 

on or before 31 March 2015 for spend over the next 5 years. 

Research support costs comprise related staff costs, direct costs and allocated central support costs. 

The deferred funding of £7,535,000 (2014: £3,862,000) is in respect of funding, due after more than one year 

and within 5 years, for grants approved by the Board of Trustees during the year which is subject to conditions 

being met. 

The amount of expenditure in each year depends on the progress of the research projects and therefore the 

amount shown in note 9 as due within one year is an estimate. 



Bloodwise 62 




12 GRANTS APPROVED IN THE YEAR, SHOWN BY INSTITUTION – GROUP AND BLOODWISE 

2015 2014 

£'000 £'000 

Addenbrookes Hospital - 129 

Cardiff University 208 1,928 

Derriford Combined Laboratories - 219 

Hammersmith Hospital - 45 

Imperial College 1,714 1,142 

Institute of Cancer Research 219 1,665 

King’s College Hospital 365 - 

King’s College London 5,433 1,832 

MRC Toxicology Unit 171 - 

Newcastle University 687 - 

Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust - 60 

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust 119 - 

Queen Mary University London 2,588 - 

Queen’s University Belfast - 154 

Southampton General Hospital 2,294 - 

St James’s University Hospital - 2 

The Babraham Institute 291 120 

The University of Manchester - 33 

University College Hospital London 1,005 - 

University College London 712 1,751 

University of Birmingham 8,828 3,770 

University of Bristol - 235 

University of Cambridge 1,090 1,239 

University of Edinburgh - 488 

University of Glasgow 1,896 1,169 

University Hospital Southampton NHS 

Foundation Trust 297 - 

University of Leeds 249 717 

University of Leicester 142 - 

University of Liverpool - 43 

University of Manchester - 443 

University of Newcastle - 2,050 



Bloodwise 63 




12 GRANTS APPROVED IN THE YEAR, SHOWN BY INSTITUTION – GROUP AND BLOODWISE (continued) 

2015 2014 

£ ‘000 £’000 

University of Nottingham - 46 

University of Oxford 977 3,364 

University of Southampton 918 388 

University of Sussex 222 - 

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute 104 - 

30,529 23,032 

Supplements to existing grants 1,558 192 

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society US 106 

Wellcome Trust – Open Access 104 

Grants approved by the Board of Trustees 

during the year (note 11) 32,297 23,224 



Bloodwise 64 




13 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BY FUNDS – GROUP 

Tangible 

Assets 

Investments 

Net Current 

(Liabilities) 

/ Assets 

Long Term 

Liabilities 

Net 

Assets 

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 

Unrestricted funds 1,859 64,965 (23,249) (39,731) 3,844 

Restricted funds - 787 (787) - - 

Total funds 1,859 65,752 (24,036) (39,731) 3,844 

14 RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS – GROUP 

Balance 

1 April 

2014 

Incoming 

Resources 

Resources 

Expended 

Transfers 

Gain on 

Investments 

Balance 

31 March 

2015 

£’000 £'000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 

Unrestricted funds 11,348 19,526 (31,001) 502 3,469 3,844 

Restricted funds - 1,062 (560) (502) - - 

Total funds 11,348 20,588 (31,561) - 3,469 3,844 

The trustees reviewed the requirements for unrestricted funds during the year ended 31 March 2015 and updated 

the reserves policy. 

Reallocations between restricted and unrestricted funds relate to income raised in respect of commitments made 

and recognised by the charity in a prior period. This ensures that restricted income is correctly matched to the 

charitable expenditure to which it relates. 

As permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, no separate statement of financial activities has been 

included in respect of Bloodwise. The movement in funds during the year that has been recognised in the financial 

statements of Bloodwise is a decrease of £7,504,000. 



Bloodwise 65 




15 PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS 

Bloodwise operates a scheme to contribute a defined amount to individual employees’ personal pension 

schemes. The assets of the various schemes are held separately from those of Bloodwise in independently 

administered funds. 

The total cost of these schemes was £165,000 (2014: £170,000). Outstanding contributions included within other 

creditors at the balance sheet date were £76,000 (2014: £19,000). 

The former pension scheme for Bloodwise and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Trading Ltd was part of a multiemployer 

scheme which is a defined benefit scheme, the assets of which are held in independently administered 

funds. This scheme was closed to new entrants eight years ago and is in the process of being wound up. 

During the year ended 31 March 2015 the fund’s administrators issued details for the withdrawal from the 

scheme. Bloodwise withdrew from the scheme with effect from 31 March 2015 on payment of a final settlement. 

No further liabilities in respect tof the scheme remain with Bloodwise. Withdrawal from the scheme was at a 

lower cost than that previously provided for, resulting in a write-back of £93,000. This has been set off against 

the cost of the current scheme as shown in Note 4. 

16 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS 

Bloodwise has taken advantage of the exemptions permitted under FRS 8 not to disclose transactions between 

Bloodwise and its wholly owned subsidiary, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trading Ltd, which eliminate 

on consolidation. 

Other than as disclosed in Note 4, there are no transactions with Trustees or management, or other related 

party transactions to be disclosed. 



Bloodwise 66 


PATRON & TRUSTEES 

ROYAL PATRON 

His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent KG 

PRESIDENT 

Sir Ian Botham OBE 

HONORARY PRESIDENTS 

Richard Delderfield 

Angela Knowles 

Ken Lomas MBE 

CHAIRMAN OF FUNDRAISING 

Alastair Campbell 

BOARD OF TRUSTEES* 

NAME 

AUDIT & RISK 

COMMITTEE 

PATIENT IMPACT 

COMMITTEE 

(disbanded 

October 2014) 

REMUNERATION 

& APPOINTMENTS 

COMMITTEE 

INVESTMENT 

COMMITTEE 

Pelham Allen 

* * 

(Chairman) 

Jeremy Bird 

* * * 

(Vice-Chairman) 

Peter Burrell FCA 

* * 

(Honorary 

Treasurer) 

Maria Clarke * 

Zanna Floyd * 

Simon Guild * 

Lesley Lee * 

Charlie Metcalfe * * 

Michael Prescott * * 

John Reeve * 

Michael Williams * 

* As at year-end 



Bloodwise 67 


Officers & advisers 

SENIOR MANAGEMENT * 

Catherine Gilman, Chief Executive 

Professor Chris Bunce, Research Director 

Jonathan Cox, Finance Director 

Emma Whelan, Marketing Director 

Mark Wilson, Fundraising Director 

RESEARCH COMMITTEE MEMBERS* 

Professor Paul Farrell (Chair), Imperial College London 

Professor Christian Bastard, Centre Henri Becquerel, Rouen, France 

Professor Julian Dyson, Imperial College London 

Professor David Gillespie, University of Glasgow 

Professor Tessa Holyoake, University of Glasgow 

Dr Richard Jenner, University College London 

Dr Stefan Meyer, University of Manchester 

Professor Robert Slany, University of Erlangen, Germany 

Dr Martin Turner, Babraham Institute, Cambridge 

Professor Mark Vickers, University of Aberdeen 

Dr Marieke von Lindern, Amsterdam Medical Center, Netherlands 

Professor Christian Buske, University of Ulm, Germany 

Dr Mary Callahan, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France 

CLINICAL TRIALS COMMITTEE* 

Professor Irene Roberts (Chair), University of Oxford 

Dr Jamie Cavenagh, Bart’s Cancer Institute, London 

Professor Christine Chomienne, Institut Universitaire 

d’Hematologie, Paris, France 

Professor Stephen Devereux, King’s College Hospital, London 

Professor Paul Farrell, Imperial College London 

Dr Claire Harrison, Guys and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust 

Professor Peter Hillmen, St James’ University Hospital, Leeds 

Dr Robert Hills, Cardiff University 

Professor Graham Jackson, Northern Centre for Cancer Care, 

Newcastle 

Dr Martin Pule, University College London 

Professor Simon Rule, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth 

Dr Anna Schuh, University of Oxford 

TRAINING & CAREER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE * 

Professor Chris Gregory (interim chair), 

University of Edinburgh 

Professor Matthew Collin, Newcastle University 

Professor Paul Farrell, Imperial College London 

Dr Adele Fielding, University College London 

Dr Reuben Tooze, University of Leeds 

Professor Chris Pepper, Cardiff University 

BANKERS 

Barclays Bank PLC. 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP 

AUDITOR 

Deloitte LLP, Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors 

2 New Street Square, London EC4A 3BZ 

INVESTMENT MANAGERS 

Cazenove Capital Management Ltd with Charity Investment 

from Schroders, 12 Moorgate, London EC2R 6DA 

INVESTMENT ADVISER 

Andrew Hutton 

LEGAL ADVISERS 

Fieldfisher, Riverbank House, 2 Swan Lane, London EC4R 3TT 

Nabarro, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8RW 

REGISTRATION 

Our registered name is Bloodwise. 

We are registered with the Charity Commission of England and 

Wales (Charity number 216032) and in Scotland (Charity number 

SC037529) and as a company limited by guarantee (registered 

number 738089). 

PRINCIPAL OFFICE 

Our registered office is 39–40 Eagle Street, London WC1R 4TH 

OUR REGIONAL OFFICES 

Scotland: 12–14 Hillside Crescent, Edinburgh EH7 5EA 

North: Newcastle University, Biomedical Research Building, 

Room 2.35, 2nd Floor Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle 

upon Tyne NE4 5PL 

Midlands: Medical School, University of Birmingham, 

Edgbaston B15 2TT 

Wales: Department of Haematology, School of Medicine, Room 182, 

7th Floor, B–C Link, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4X 

South West: Unit 40, Basepoint Business Centre, Yeoford Way, 

Exeter EX2 8LB 

London and South East: 39–40 Eagle Street, London WC1R 4TH 



Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research 68 

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES 

Bloodwise 

39–40 Eagle Street, London WC1R 4TH

CANCER

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