skip to content skip to main menu
Home » About us » How we work

The difference we made in 2006

 

We spent £66.4m on providing, developing and influencing better support for people affected by cancer by:

  • Medical support
    Funding 71 new Macmillan nurses, 36 allied healthcare professionals and 22 new medical professionals. Our 3,003 nurses helped around 320,000 people in 2006 and Allied Health Professionals reached over 57,000 people. These Macmillan professionals play a vital role in helping people cope with the physical and emotional effects of cancer.
  • Grants and financial advice
    Giving Macmillan Grants to over 22,200 people, and helping to obtain £10.3m in extra benefits that people with cancer were entitled to but not claiming. Over 7,000 people contacted our Benefits Helpline, and our benefits and welfare rights advisers helped an estimated 13,200 – 48% more than the previous year. These services help people cope with the extra costs a cancer diagnosis can bring.
  • Advice and information
    Helping over 34,200 people through CancerLine, 700 more than 2005. We also expanded the helpline's opening hours and created the YouthLine. We helped over 97,000 people through our 23 information and support centres, and over 13,000 through our two Mobile Macmillan Cancer Information Centres. This support helped people to understand about cancer, make decisions about treatment options, and access vital support services.
  • Financing self help and support groups
    Giving financial help to over 200 cancer self help and support groups. Our self help and support workshops helped over 1,100 people share their feelings and learn how to support themselves and each other.

We were a force for change for people affected by cancer in 2006 by:

  • successfully persuading the Health Select Committee in England to recommend free or more affordable hospital parking for people with cancer. 
  • launching the Hitting Homes campaign to highlight the fact that 1 in 17 people affected by cancer lose their homes.
  • pushing for amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill so that people who are under treatment for cancer, or are terminally ill, will continue to receive Incapacity Benefit, without the need for return-to-work interviews.