A message from our Chief Executive: We're here for you
Dear all,
I wanted to reach out to you directly and let you know what we’re doing at Bowel Cancer UK to support everyone affected by bowel cancer during these unprecedented times. The coronavirus is affecting all of our lives and the situation is changing daily and causing many challenges.
We know that many of you are understandably very worried and concerned and we want to let you know we’re here for you. Everyone affected by bowel cancer remains our top priority.
We’re working with the One Cancer Voice group of 19 cancer charities and the NHS and governments in all four nations to provide consistent, clear advice for patients and their families. This advice will be updated as and when more information becomes available. Our website has a dedicated coronavirus section and we’ll continue to add to this over the coming days and weeks: www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/coronavirus
We advise you to speak to your treatment team to get tailored information for your individual circumstances. The NHS and government are continually updating their advice and provide the most up-to-date information currently available.
Our online community and social media channels are fantastic, supportive places to ask questions, read about people’s experiences and support each other. Please don't feel alone, especially if you're self-isolating. You can also browse the information and publications on our website.
Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel our support events planned for the next few months and many of our wonderful fundraisers have been training hard for events that have now been postponed. We’ll do everything we can to make those extra weeks of training fly by. You’re all absolute superstars!
We’re working on new and alternative ways to both support you and to fundraise to make it as easy as possible during these challenging times. As always, we rely on public donations to continue our vital services and lifesaving research.
We’ll still be running Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in April - the need to raise awareness and improve early diagnosis continues, as every 15 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with bowel cancer. It may be a little different from what we had planned, but please watch this space as to how you can get involved.
In terms of our volunteers and staff, we’ve taken swift steps to safeguard them, by pausing our volunteer awareness programme and closing our offices so that all staff are now working at home. We’re still very much here for you though. We’re stronger together and together we can save lives, improve the quality of life and better support everyone in the UK affected by the disease #teambowelcancer
With warmest wishes,
Genevieve Edwards
Chief Executive, Bowel Cancer UK
