Macmillan Cancer Support, one of Britain’s largest and best-known charities, plans to cut 150 jobs – one in 14 of its workforce – and says it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise money to meet rising demand for assistance due to the increasing number of people living with cancer.
The charitywhose services play a vital role in local NHS provision, spends £250m a year funding around 11,000 specialist cancer nurses and care workers and provides financial, practical and emotional support and advice to the public, including thousands of £200 grants to patients who need help with energy and travel costs.
Macmillan is an established part of the UK volunteer network and traditionally one of the most effective and popular fundraisers. Macmillan consistently rakes in more than £200 million a year from legacies and money raised by tens of thousands of participants in events ranging from marathons, walks and cycling events. drives to his characteristic coffee mornings.
But the heavy reliance on charity fundraising has been exposed by rising inflation and a growing demand for advice and support from an increasing number of people who need help to cope with the financial and psychological impact of cancer diagnoses and the long wait for treatment by the NHS.
A statement said: “Like many other organisations, Macmillan has felt the impact of a difficult financial environment. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to raise money, and inflation means it costs more to do the same as it did just a few years ago. We’re tackling these challenges by transforming so we can have more impact for people with cancer, but without relying on raising more money to do that.
“This has meant that we have had to make the difficult decision to reduce the size of the organization and unfortunately means that we have had to make a number of valued colleagues redundant. We are making these difficult decisions and building a new strategy to ensure Macmillan is in the best possible position to provide the vital support people with cancer need now and well into the future.”
A spokesperson for Macmillan said it had tried to “minimise the impact” of the cuts on beneficiaries living with cancer. Although the job losses affected the entire organisation, they did not affect staff providing direct advice and support to the public. The vast majority of doctors it funds are employed by the NHS.
The move has shocked the voluntary sector as the largest charities have proven largely resilient to the cost of living crisis, unlike smaller organisations, which are often at the mercy of donor fatigue and cuts to council funding. “It’s a surprise. Most major charities are hiring rather than shedding jobs,” said one analyst.
A Macmillan employee told the Guardian that the latest round of cuts had created a “horrendous atmosphere” and questioned whether management had diverted attention from its core fundraising role. “Many good people will lose their jobs,” they said. “It’s all quite grim.”
The job cuts come three years after Macmillan Cancer Support cut 300 jobs during the pandemic as it prepared to lose tens of millions of pounds in revenue due to the cancellation of thousands of fundraising events.
Although fundraising income has increased after Covid lockdowns ended, the charity faces underlying financial challenges. The country has spent more than it received in donations in four of the past five years, and has benefited heavily from declining revenues on more than one occasion. financial reserves to balance the books and meet rising demand for services.
Are latest financial accounts for the year to December 31, 2022, published in October, showed the charity’s income had fallen from £231 million to £227 million, partly due to declining donations as rising costs of living hit donor pockets. At the same time, spending on staff, overheads, grants and services rose to £252 million.
97% of Macmillan’s income comes through fundraising and legacies. In 2022 it raised £204 million, down £6 million year-on-year, and below pre-Covid levels. Fundraising is believed to have leveled off over the past year.
Macmillan Cancer Support has surpassed YouGov’s annual ranking of charities – the benchmark for which charities the public would be most likely to donate to – for eleven years in a row, ahead of other household names such as Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.
The charity’s chief executive, Gemma Peters, who joined just over a year ago, has described Macmillan’s culture as “quite clumsy, segregated and a bit too hierarchical”. Last year she launched a major strategy review to re-examine its role, structure and priorities, including its heavy reliance on charity fundraising.
Sarah Vibert, the chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said: “Charities of all sizes are facing the triple threat of record demand, falling revenues and rising operational costs – with none of these showing signs of going away anytime soon. ”