The AA and Cancer Research UK - on the road to beating cancer together.The AA and Cancer Research UK - on the road to beating cancer together.
Over the last 50 years, we’ve helped double cancer survival in the UK.
But 1 in 2 of us will still get cancer in our lifetime*. That’s 1 in 2 of our family. 1 in 2 of our friends. 1 in 2 of our colleagues.
Cancer is relentless.
But so are we.
We've helped develop half the world’s essential cancer drugs and we’re working hard to make treatments kinder and more effective for everyone, so that more people get more moments with the people they love.
But there’s still so much more to do.
Cancer remains the number one cause of death in the UK. And it’s not just one disease - it’s more than 200. We’re the only charity taking on all of them.
With your help, we can create a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
At the AA, you get to people fast, right when they need you.
Vote for Cancer Research UK to be your charity partner and together we’ll go further and faster to beat cancer.
Why vote for Cancer Research UK?
Right now, our researchers up and down the country are discovering new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
Our research is already saving lives.
Thanks to our research, we’ve avoided over a million cancer deaths since 1980.
We’ve helped double breast cancer survival in the UK.
We’ve helped to prove the link between tobacco and cancer, preventing millions of deaths worldwide.
Our research led to the development of the HPV vaccine, which is expected to prevent almost 90% of cervical cancers in the UK
But we need to do more.
Our scientists are relentless, but cancer is complex.
We need your help to raise vital funds to support our next life-saving discovery and give us all more moments with the people we love.
With you by our side, just think of how much more we could achieve.
*Ahmad A.S. et al. British Journal of Cancer, 2015
We are beating cancer in your local community
With the support of people like you voting for us as your charity partner, we are beating cancer in all the regions you operate as Roadside Patrols, as well as the communities surrounding your offices and Contact Centres.
Greater London – our research near your London Head Office
Around 34,100 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in London.
London is an exciting hub of research and home to two of our world-leading cancer research centres.
Right now in London, our researchers are working to understand how lung cancer evolves so we can personalise treatment for patients, working to improve screening for cervical cancer and trialling aspirin as a low-cost cancer treatment.
This could improve survival for people who’ve have had cancer before, by giving them the best chance of it not returning in the future.
South East – our research near your Basingstoke Head Office and Tunbridge Wells Contact Centres
Around 52,100 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the South East.
Basingstoke is in the middle of two of the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres that we co-fund in Oxford and Southampton, as well as a Clinical Trials Unit. The aim of these centres is to get new treatments to patients more quickly.
Right now in the South East, we’re researching how cells repair their DNA, testing new treatment options for people with bladder cancer and researching new ways to treat myeloma – the most aggressive form of skin cancer.
North East – our research near your Newcastle Contact Centre
Around 1,600 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in Newcastle.
Our Newcastle Centre delivers world-leading research to help more people affected by cancer.
Newcastle is also home to our Drug Discovery Unit, turning today’s science into tomorrow’s medicine, as well as our co-funded Adult and Paediatric Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres.
West Midlands - our research near your Oldbury Contact Centre
Around 32,100 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the West Midlands.
Birmingham is home to one of our seven Clinical Trials Units, as well as both Adult and Paediatric Experimental Cancer Medicine Units that we co-fund. Here, we bring together lab scientists and cancer doctors to get new treatments into clinics faster.
Right now, we’re investigating how bacteria could be used in cancer treatments. We’re also finding new ways to target cancer and studying a faulty gene to find out more about its role in the disease.
North West - our research near your Cheadle Contact Centre
Around 42,300 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the North West.
Our work at our Manchester Institute spans all types of cancer research, from investigating the molecular biological basis of cancer to developing new treatments.
In 2017, the Paterson building, which housed part of our Manchester Institute, suffered a devastating fire. But that hasn’t stopped us. Out of the ashes we've built a new, ambitious, world-class cancer research facility, which opened its doors in 2023.
South and Mid Wales - our research near your Cardiff Contact Centre
Around 15,100 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in South and Mid Wales.
Our Cardiff Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, which we jointly support with the health department in Wales, brings together lab scientists and cancer doctors to speed up the flow of ideas and new treatments from the lab bench to the bedside.
Cardiff is also home to the Centre for Trials Research Cancer Unit, which delivers innovative and practice-changing research to transform care and outcomes for cancer patients in the UK and across the world.
How your money will power research
If you and your colleagues each raised £20 in a year (that’s just 38p per week), together you could raise a whopping £160,000.
That’s enough to fund Professor Caroline Dive and her team, who are developing simple blood tests to diagnose and monitor lung cancer, for a whole year.
Check out what your donations could buy for research, powering discoveries to help us all live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
How we can raise money together
We’d love you to become a charity champion, joining a network across the AA to represent your team and region, shaping fundraising activities for your colleagues.
Our dedicated team will work with yours to create a year-round calendar of fundraising and other events to raise awareness about different types of cancer and things you can do to help prevent them. Whatever your interests, we have something for everyone and so many different ways for you to get involved.
How many miles can you go?
We can help you organise team fundraising challenges and competitions between you and your colleagues across the UK. Could your Contact Centres go head-to-head with Head Offices? Or how about Roadside Patrol teams racing each other to collectively complete 100km, walking, running or cycling? Could your team come together to cover the distance of all The AA key sites over the course of the year, entirely on foot?
Take the baking challenge
Host bake sales and enlist your Senior Team to judge the best bake with a prize (or a handshake) for the winner. Perhaps Roadside Patrol teams could even give breakdown customers a taste of their winning bakes!
Get involved in your local Race for Life.
You and your loved ones can join one of our 450 Race for Life events across the country. Walk or run 3k, 5k, 10k individually or as a team, or crawl, climb and hop your way through our Pretty Muddy Obstacle Course. We’ll even throw in a 30% discount off your registration fee!
Run with Team CRUK
We can give your keenest runners places for the London, Brighton and Manchester marathons, so they can join Team CRUK in outpacing cancer. Once they're on board, they’ll get personalised support with training and fundraising.
Set up donation stations.
We can help you set up donation stations at each of your sites, where you can bring in clothes you no longer need. This can then be sold in our network of over 600 shops and superstores, destined to be a loved by a new owner. In 2022 alone, we diverted around 25,000 tonnes of pre-loved clothes to new owners – a saving of 250 billion litres of water compared to buying the same volume brand new.
Cancer Awareness in the Workplace
As one of our valued partners, you will also have the opportunity to take part in our Cancer Awareness in the Workplace Programme.
Around 4 in 10 cancers can be prevented, and treatment is more likely to be successful when cancer is spotted early.
Our programme will help you understand the ways you can reduce your risk of cancer, how to spot it early and empower you to take positive action for your health.
In a recent survey to employees who have completed the programme:
97% said they would recommend it to a colleague
92% had a better understanding of the ways they can improve their health
Cancer is one of the biggest health challenges of our time.
But together, we’re beating it. Step by step. Day by day.
Every step forward, made by every one of us, is significant. And everyone can play their part, big or small, to make progress possible. Like Alex and her family:
I was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. I now take tamoxifen to stop my cancer from coming back which Cancer Research UK played a key role in developing. This life-saving work is only possible with funding from their amazing supporters and partners, like you.
We do this so that more people get more special moments with the people they love.