Cancer Relief Receive £200,000 In Donations
Earlier this year Cancer Relief Gibraltar highlighted that they were in need of £100,000 to prevent a downturn in the charity’s finances. Since then they have received £200,000 in donations.
A statement from the Cancer Relief Gibraltar follows below:
In March 2020, our community found itself, together with the rest of the world, facing a uniquely trying time. In unprecedented circumstances, the effect of Covid 19 were felt across Gibraltar, not least by our charity as we saw a significant decrease in donations when the threat of the virus, and all the associated security measures, took hold. Over 90% of Cancer Relief’s Centre funding comes from donations and fundraising; this is used to cover nursing, complementary therapies and our operational running costs, amounting to a minimum of £280,000 yearly. We were fortunate as a charity, to have sufficient funds in reserve to see us through any difficult months, but this crisis represented a significant impact to future finances.
At this time, we explained our concerns in an article kindly published by the Chronicle. We explained the need to raise at least £100,000 this year so as to prevent a downturn in the charity’s finances.
We could not have anticipated the effect this report in the Chronicle would have. Almost immediately, individuals began donating through our Just Giving page with messages such as ‘I read about you in the Chronicle and wanted to do my bit’ and "So you can continue doing your amazing work for the local community." Families started fundraising in their own way within lockdown regulations and personal donations increased significantly. Individuals, companies, trusts and foundations all came forward to offer their support and donations. The gruelling physical efforts of Peter Isola and Neil Costa resulted in the absolutely incredible donation made by The Peter J Isola Foundation, the largest single donation in Cancer Relief’s history. This total was supported by generous contributions made by various donors such as the Kusuma Trust and the Peninsular Charitable trust. The wonderful team behind the Kenneth Navas Barristers & Solicitors for Cancer Relief event presented another amazing donation to the Centre, the culmination of hundreds of people getting together to take part and show their support for the charity. The GBC Open Day, the North Atlantic Trust Company Limited and the Gibraltar International Bank all generously donated towards the continuation of our services. All these events and efforts, from the smallest to the largest resulted in Cancer Relief’s ‘Covid Fundraising’ coming to an unprecedented and unanticipated just over £200,000.
The charity is delighted and humbled by the support it has received since the article in the Chronicle. We never expected to get such an immediate, huge response to our plea for support and certainly did not anticipate meeting our shortfall within weeks of announcing our position. With the uncertainty over the future of fundraising post-lockdown, these generous donations and fundraising efforts will help us to move forward with confidence. The charity’s Board of Trustees would like to thank all those who donated to Cancer Relief during this time. It is remarkable to see just how the community came together to support Cancer Relief when the Covid 19 lockdown was having such a serious unintended knock-on effect on the charity’s regular income.
During the lockdown and beyond, Cancer Relief remained open and continued to provide modified and adapted services. We suspended any services that would contravene public health guidelines and came up with innovative ways to provide as many others as possible virtually. We are pleased to say that charity services not only continued but saw a significant rise in numbers amid reports of increased fear and anxiety due to the impact of Covid-19, and the effects of lockdown and social isolation. Referrals to the charity during this time are reflective of the difficulty so many people were experiencing and indicative of the funds we vitally needed to raise. By April, the number of service users had increased 81% compared to the same period in 2019, with referrals in April alone increasing by almost 300%, compared to 2019. We held 1850 telephone clinics in just 3 months and supported 15 patients through end of life care, death and the family’s bereavement. It is evident that the charity was needed and, thanks to the breath-taking support we received, we will continue to be available to our community, providing support, advocacy and care from diagnosis onwards.
Cancer Relief would like to take this opportunity to thank every single person who has worked so hard to keep the charity supported during such difficult and unusual times. Thanks to you all, we have successfully continued to deliver our services and will continue to do so in the future.
For more information on any of our services, visit us at www.cancerrelief.gi or call 20042392.
