Here's your July update

We hope you're enjoying the sunshine and staying sun safe this summer!

A huge thank you to everyone who got involved with our volunteering open days initiative during Volunteers’ Week in June. Right across Team Trading, more than 340 shop teams helped to deliver our biggest Volunteers’ Week celebration yet. We hope you enjoyed your team’s open day and felt recognised and valued for the incredible contribution you make to Cancer Research UK.

July is Sarcoma Awareness month, and we're sharing the signs and symptoms to look out for on our sarcoma cancer webpages.

There's lots of great news to share this month, from our in-store volunteer recruitment campaign, to the launch of our brand new webpage focused on development and wellbeing. We're also pleased to let you know about our Care Concierge service, which is free to all our volunteers.

Keep reading for all the updates you don't want to miss!

Best wishes,
Julie Byard, Director of Trading
Cancer Research UK

We're excited to share that our latest in-store campaign went live on 14 July. The aim is to recruit more volunteers to join us and support our mission to beat cancer.

This time, we’ve introduced an exciting new element and have developed two different versions of the campaign poster to appeal to either 25–34 year olds, or people 35+, changing the messaging and images depending on what would most appeal to each group. We’ve then used demographic information we have for every shop to decide which version of the poster should be sent out to each store, so that we can engage the people most likely to sign up to volunteer.

By being more targeted in this way, we’re hoping that the campaign will be even more effective and encourage more brilliant people to join our volunteer community. The campaign is live for a month and during this time you may be asked more questions about your experience of volunteering and how people can apply.

Volunteers are at the heart of Cancer Research UK and your support is key to keeping our shops running smoothly. In return for giving us your time, energy and skills, we want to make sure you have a rewarding, enjoyable and satisfying volunteering experience.

We know that volunteering can have many benefits for your wellbeing, with 74% of our volunteers saying they feel better connected to people in their community as a result of volunteering with us, more than half (57%) saying their mental health has improved, and 50% saying they smile more. Volunteering can also be a great way to grow and develop, whether you want to build your CV or simply grow your confidence.

To help you make the most of your time with us, we’ve launched a brand-new page on our Volunteer Hub, full of useful resources and tips to support your wellbeing and development.
 

Did you know that anyone at Cancer Research UK – staff and volunteers – can access free, expert advice about being a carer through Legal & General’s Care Concierge service?

9 – 15 June was Carers’ Week 2025, an annual awareness week dedicated to highlighting the challenges that unpaid carers face and helping people with caring responsibilities to access much-needed support.

To support the campaign, we wanted to let you know that any carers who volunteer with us are eligible to access the free Care Concierge service provided by our pension provider, Legal and General. This service can help carers to navigate the journey of adult and later life care and is dedicated to supporting people who care for someone 18 years old and upwards (the service doesn’t focus on care for children, however they might be able to signpost to other care services for the care of under 18s).

The service offers a variety of support, from guidance on how to arrange care for a loved one, to help with understanding the costs involved with providing care, such as how much care might cost in your area.

To access the service, simply contact the Care Concierge team in one of the following ways and let them know that you’re a Cancer Research UK volunteer:
- Legal and General website here
- Freephone: 0808 189 3195 (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm)

If you need general support with your wellbeing, remember that the Retail Trust is also available, offering year-round support to people who work or volunteer in retail. From counselling and financial advice to crisis support and wellbeing tools, the Retail Trust can help you navigate life’s challenges and boost your wellbeing.

Thank you so much for all your incredible fundraising! We know you’ve been working so hard, and you’ve done an amazing job. Together, we’ve raised a huge £510,801, exceeding our fundraising target by 17%. This campaign wouldn’t have been possible without you, our amazing volunteers.

From organising sponsored walks and baking cakes to holding fashion shows, getting crafty, and even playing live music, you’ve gone above and beyond in shops across the country.

All your effort during this year’s Bowelbabe Fund cash campaign means we can continue Deborah’s legacy of giving more people affected by cancer, more time with the people they love by funding projects like CRC-STARS. In April, the Fund announced a £2.2m donation towards the CRC-STARS initiative, which will bring together world-leading experts to help make personalised medicine a reality for people with bowel cancer. This was an area of cancer research Deborah was particularly passionate about.

Thank you for your time, your creativity, and your unstoppable energy.