19 Aug 2022 Wellbeing

Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia UK announce financial support collaboration

Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia UK are pleased to announce a collaboration to provide financial support to people affected by leukaemia, through the financial hardship fund.

Leukaemia Care have provided 364 grants already in 2022 to families affected by leukaemia, MDS or MPN. These grants seek to provide respite and support with increased bills, hospital travel costs or paying for food.

The Hardship Fund was first created by Leukaemia Care in 2019 to help offset the financial impact of leukaemia. 43% of patients report a financial impact, either due to an increase in costs or reduction in income, or indeed both. This increases to 55% for acute leukaemia patients.

The grant has been oversubscribed every year, but this has been amplified with the UK’s recent cost of living crisis. Compared with 2021, 2022 has seen 4 times the amount of applications to the fund.

Leukaemia UK previously delivered a Helping Hand grants fund. As part of the collaboration, this fund will cease and now be incorporated into the Financial Hardship Fund administered by Leukaemia Care. Leukaemia UK have committed an additional £20,000 grant towards the cost of continuing the Financial Hardship Fund. This collaboration is vital to enable an extra 100 people affected by leukaemia and related blood cancers to access £200 grants for support.

Zack Pemberton-Whiteley, CEO of Leukaemia Care said:

“We are pleased to be working with Leukaemia UK to provide financial support to people affected by leukaemia. Leukaemia can devastate a person’s financial situation at any time, but the recent cost of living crisis has really increased the pressure further on our patients. As a result, we have seen a surge in demand for financial support from charities, with 364 families helped so far this year. We are pleased to be able to offer help to an additional 100 families this year.”

Dawn Farrar, Director of Research & Advocacy at Leukaemia UK, said:

‘’Whilst many in the UK are struggling financially, we know that a leukaemia diagnosis adds extra financial pressures, on top of the emotional and physical challenges. Leukaemia Care has recently seen a dramatic increase in the number of applications for financial help. We want to do everything we can to improve the lives of those with leukaemia and so we are providing £20,000 to add to Leukaemia Care’s existing fund. Together, we hope to ease the burden on leukaemia patients and their families.”

However, our funds still remain limited and are distributed on a first come first served basis.

If you are in need of support, you can apply for the hardship fund here.