CANCER

Bloodwise 26
STRATEGIC REPORT
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 trading as Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Company limited by guarantee 738089
Registered charity 216032 (England & Wales) SC037529 (Scotland)