Action Cancer welcomes £100K Barclays donation

Action Cancer, Northern Ireland’s leading, local cancer charity has been successful in a bid to secure funding from Barclays, enabling it to expand its therapeutic support services across five counties in 2022.

To meet the needs of communities as they emerge from the pandemic, Barclays is supporting Action Cancer with a £100,000 donation through its 100x100 Programme, as part of its wider £100m COVID-19 Community Aid Package.

Since the pandemic began, the highly competitive fund has awarded over £1 million to charities across Northern Ireland with Action Cancer being one of the latest beneficiaries.

The funding will enable Action Cancer to employ a new Complementary Therapist as well as a Counsellor and to expand its service offering regionally throughout Northern Ireland to support people and their loved ones affected by cancer. These services which are free of charge to the client include; cancer rehabilitation physiotherapy, counselling, complementary therapy and scar therapy.

Adrian Doran, Barclays Northern Ireland, said: “With the long-term impacts of the crisis still being felt, Barclays continues to play a positive role in society. By working with charities like Action Cancer who best understand the needs of their communities in Northern Ireland we can ensure help is getting right into the heart of society. We hope that by partnering with incredible local charities, we can continue to help people in need.”

Gareth Kirk, Chief Executive of Action Cancer commented: “Action Cancer is absolutely delighted to have received a £100,000 donation of support from Barclays, enabling us to continue to deliver our meaningful work across Northern Ireland. The pandemic dealt a severe blow to our income, with retail shops forced to close and fundraising events cancelled. We unfortunately had no choice but to scale back our regional presence of therapeutic support throughout Northern Ireland. The Barclays Fund has enabled us to once again provide these services on a regional basis, bringing our services right into the heart of local communities, increasing access to those people affected by cancer who need our help the most.”

Ruth Fleming, Service Development at Action Cancer added: “The funding will enable Action Cancer to deliver an additional nearly 2000 therapeutic sessions and support over 200 people impacted by cancer in 2022. Research shows that 70% of our clients report an improvement in quality of life from using our therapeutic services. We are so pleased that by expanding our regional offering, cancer patients can now access these services closer to home, making a positive difference to their lives.”

Thanks to the funding from Barclays, Action Cancer has launched new partnerships with Perfections Wellness Spa (Coleraine), County Down Rural Community Network (Ballymote Centre, Downpatrick), Clanrye Group (Newry), Fountain Cancer Support Group (Bangor), South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust/Palliative Care Unit (Ards Community Hospital), as well as enabling it to continue with its highly successful partnerships with Ulster Hospital (Dundonald), Mount Zion House (Lurgan), Focus Physiotherapy (Augher) and Western Health and Social Care Trust (L/Derry). Sessions will also be delivered from Action Cancer House in South Belfast.

For information on how to avail of these services, please contact the Action Cancer Team on 028 9080 3344.