A phenomenal year: our highlights from 2023
Thursday 27 June 2024
Today we launch our Annual Report which shows that 2023 was another incredible year for Bowel Cancer UK.
We raised £7 million for the first time in our history and provided more support than ever to people affected by bowel cancer. This is all thanks to amazing supporters like you.
Here are some of our highlights from 2023
We launched our new five-year strategy, ‘On a mission’
Placing early diagnosis at the heart of our work, our new ambitious strategy shows how we'll ensure more people are diagnosed at the earliest stages when the disease is easier to treat. The new strategy also shows how we'll keep pushing for access to the best treatment and care and provide support for patients and their friends and families. We want to see the number of bowel cancers diagnosed at the earliest stages increase from just 4 in 10 today to more than 7 in 10 by 2028.
We kept supporting you — and raising awareness
Last year we provided more than five million moments of support to bowel cancer patients, their families and carers and to healthcare professionals and others in the bowel cancer community. We also took our giant inflatable bowel on the road as we kicked off a three-year programme of awareness roadshows. Funded by the BowelBabe Fund for Cancer Research UK, these events will raise awareness of good bowel health, bowel cancer symptoms and the importance of taking part in screening.
Our supermarket campaign went from strength to strength
We celebrated the first anniversary of our award-winning #GetOnARoll campaign, with ten supermarkets and toilet roll brands now printing bowel cancer symptoms on their loo roll packaging, putting that vital message in millions of households across the country.
While our messages reached into the heart of government
We were delighted to see developments in areas where we have long campaigned for change, including a lifting of the ban on treatment breaks for people with advanced bowel cancer, a Cancer Improvement Plan for Wales, a Scottish Cancer Strategy and routine Lynch syndrome testing for newly diagnosed bowel cancer patients. We brought decision makers together at the first ever All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Bowel Cancer, and we took our early diagnosis message to the Labour, Conservative, SNP, DUP and Sinn Fein annual party conferences. We joined with more than 60 cancer charities and 75,000 members of the public working as One Cancer Voice to call on the Prime Minister to take action and publish an ambitious, fully funded, long-term strategy for cancer.
Saying goodbye to a wonderful supporter
In July we were deeply saddened to hear of the death of our long-time champion, George Alagiah OBE. We'll never forget how much of his precious time he gave to the charity and the kindness he showed to our bowel cancer family.
Looking ahead to 2024
We’ve already been busy this year with new campaigns, more roadshows and the launch of some brilliant new partnerships. Here's some of what we’re up to in 2024:
We’ll be supporting more people at the point of diagnosis by launching a new information resource to help people when they receive the news that they have bowel cancer.
…and beyond: we’ll be there every step of the way, supporting patients, families, friends and carers, including improved health information and with a new peer support telephone line.
On the road: we’re rolling out our awareness roadshows to ten more locations across the country. Starting in Hackney in London, we’ll visit ten locations in all four UK nations.
Tell Your GP Instead: we’ve kicked off a new nationwide behaviour change campaign, encouraging people least likely to seek help when they have symptoms to see their GP.
From #GetOnARoll to #GetComfortable: we’re launching an exciting new three-year, £2.3 million partnership with Andrex®, working together to tackle the nation’s embarrassment about going to the toilet and talking about poo.
This is just a snapshot of what we got up to in 2023 and what’s to come in 2024. You can find out more in our full Annual Report.
We’d like to thank every one of our supporters, partners, donors and volunteers for their support and generosity over the year. From raising more than £7 million in money, goods and services, to giving more than 5,000 hours of volunteering time, we simply couldn’t do it without you. Thank you!
- Sign up to our monthly e-newsletter and be the first to hear about our exciting plans for 2024 and beyond
- Find out more about what we do
- Learn about the symptoms of bowel cancer
Click the video above to watch a summary of our highlights from 2023.
