Corporate Social Responsibility

Fundraising for Macmillan reaches over £50,000!

We are extremely proud to announce that we at startrescue.co.uk and our customers have raised over £52,000 to support people living with cancer.

Cancer is devastating. It turns your world upside down and it impacts everyone. Sadly, one in two of us will hear the news you have cancer; at some point in our lives

That's why we chose to support a charity close to us. Macmillan Cancer Support provide vital support to people who need it most. They provide medical support, practical support and emotional support.

We are proud to say that £52,000 can help fund the Macmillan information and support line service for over 120 hours. Within that time the team could reach over 2,600 people who are in need of vital support.

The Macmillan Support Line provides easily accessible, free information and support to people with cancer. The staff at the end of the phone can answer questions about cancer types and treatments, provide practical and financial support, or just listen if someone needs to talk.

The support line is currently open Monday to Friday, 9am-8pm, but Macmillan’s ambition is to open the Support Line service 24/7 and that’s why we at startrescue.co.uk chose to raise money for Macmillan.

"She told me what to do. She's always at the end of the phone, she's always there. I have never met this woman, I can't tell you what she looks like, but she's always been there for me." Kellie, diagnosed with thyroid cancer

Over £42,000 raised for Macmillan Cancer Support!

startrescue.co.uk sees its fundraising efforts reach £42,381 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Everyone at startrescue.co.uk is very proud to partner with such a worthwhile organisation and we hope that our customers feel the same. The figure we've managed to raise would not have been possible without the support of our customers.

Raising awareness about the support available for cancer patients plays as big a part as raising the money itself for the vital services offered. So we're happy to do anything we can as a company to help Macmillan's cause reach more and more people.

How does fund raising help?

A lot people may not know the actual extent of the costs involved in providing the crucial care that so many rely on, whether they're the cancer patient or those indirectly affected by cancer. As a way to provide perspective, we have described below how the money raised by startrescue.co.uk could be used to help cancer patients.

A Macmillan GP provides a vital service for education and support for people affected by cancer. The GP is on hand for expert advice and support around cancer to include early diagnosis, survivorship and End of Life. Support, education and guidance is provided by the Macmillan GP when they visit GP practices. A Macmillan GP costs £10,000 per year to fund 2 sessions a week, so our fund raising efforts to date have helped pay for sessions of four Macmillan GPs for a year!

Financial strain is common for those affected by cancer. The patient may not be able to carry on working while going through treatment and they may also need a loved one to take care of them at home. Many people are unaware they could be entitled to benefits in their time of need. When you are facing cancer the last thing you want to worry about is which benefits you may be entitled to and then filling out the endless forms. That’s why Macmillan now fund a Welfare and Benefits advice team that takes the stress off you.

£2,532 a year is the average amount every person who receives face-to-face benefits advice will be told they can claim, but they are not currently claiming. £4,857 could operate the welfare rights element of our Macmillan's phone service for a day. On average the phone service deals with 77 cases and help secure £198,846 in unclaimed benefits. startrescue.co.uk has essentially raised enough to fund almost 9 days.

What's next?

startrescue.co.uk believes its corporate social responsibility is very important and will continue raise funds for charitable causes. We’d like to thank everyone involved who has helped us to achieve what we have to date and we look forward to our next big fund raising announcement!

Macmillan fundraising reaches £30,000!

startrescue.co.uk has reached a significant landmark in raising money to go to the cancer charity, Macmillan. £30,000 has been collected since startrescue.co.uk began collecting for Macmillan and that number continues to grow every day!

To mark this occasion a visit to startrescue.co.uk’s local Macmillan Information Centre based in Colchester General Hospital was arranged. A group of startrescue.co.uk staff had the opportunity to meet and talk with Emma Sweeney MSc, Macmillan Head of Cancer Nursing at Colchester General Hospital and Macmillan Nurse Deborah Farthing. Emma and Debbie were both very generous and took time out of their hectic schedules to answer questions and give us all a better understanding about how charitable funds are spent.

On the visit Emma said, “It was lovely meeting some of the team and I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Start Rescue for the fundraising they have been doing. The money that Start Rescue is raising will make a huge difference to people affected by cancer”.

The visit highlighted the great work Macmillan staff are carrying out every day, but appreciating the size of the task was a sobering experience. Every penny raised for the cancer charity goes to efficient use and they need every penny too, with an estimated 4 million people living with cancer by 2030.

Below we’ve given our customers an idea of what they have enabled startrescue.co.uk to help with and how the £30,000 could be spent.

• £27,943 could pay for a Macmillan social worker or family support worker for a year. They work with community and social services agencies to help people manage the social and practical problems of living with cancer.
• £27,943 could pay for a Macmillan Support Worker for a year, helping people living with cancer across the whole pathway receive the support they need.
• £27,810 could pay for a Macmillan Information and Support Assistant for a year.

It’s also worth noting that the leaflets you can see in the photos are a small selection of the 200+ leaflets and booklets that Macmillan publishes. The cost of some of these is as little as 24p each to produce. These tangible numbers give a definite significance to fund raising efforts and the gratitude we have for our customers.

So, once again we’d like to say a big thank you to you all! 

Proud to begin fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support

We are very proud to announce the beginning of a fundraising drive for Macmillan Cancer Support, with the aim of making regular donations to help Macmillan continue their great work. over the coming months and years we will be making donations directly to this well loved cancer charity. So if you become a startrescue.co.uk member you'll not only be receiving a comprehensive motor breakdown cover policy from one of the fastest growing motor assistance providers in the UK, you will also be helping to raise funds for people affected by cancer.

The excellent job that Macmillan undertakes is the fundamental reason we have decided to choose them as our charity partner. It is a poignant fact that in the next five years almost one in two people will get cancer at some point in their lives. It is the toughest fight most of us will ever face. That’s why Macmillan is here – to support individuals and families in need, with medical, practical and emotional support. From help with money worries and advice about how to explain a diagnosis to your children, to help understanding treatment, Macmillan is there. Supporting families affected by all aspects of cancer is at the heart of what Macmillan does. Below are just some amazing facts about Macmillan.

• Macmillan reached and supported over 5.8 million people affected by cancer in 2015.
• Macmillan nurses have gone from helping 250 people a year in 1975 to over 590,000 in 2015.
• Macmillan’s Support Line answered almost 144,000 calls in 2015 and helped over 62,000 people by providing them with expert help.
• Macmillan’s local benefits advice services helped over 68,000 people in 2015, identifying over £211 million in benefits for people affected by cancer - £30 million more than in 2014

If we are to step back and think, not only about the devastating nature of the illness, but also the financial impact it can have, the choice to help Macmillan becomes even clearer. Just £203 could help fund a Macmillan nurse, physiotherapist, dietitian, pharmacist or occupational therapist for a working day.

There are now 2.5 million people living with or beyond cancer in the UK and the demand for Macmillan’s services has never been greater. In the next 15 years this figure is set to hit 4 million people living with or beyond cancer. Over 98% of Macmillan’s funding comes from the generosity of the general public so your support does make a real difference.

It’s worth repeating the fact that Macmillan rely solely on charitable donations to continue their crucial work. And that without cancer charities such as Macmillan those affected by cancer, whether it be the sufferer or their families, would not get the support they need. Cancer can often bring about the most stressful time in a person’s life: money issues, work commitments and fighting a life threatening illness are everyday worries. Macmillan provides an essential support network that hundreds of thousands of people rely on each year!   

We hope that you will get behind the team at startrescue.co.uk in backing the efforts of Macmillan Cancer Support to reach and improve the lives of everyone affected by cancer. We would also like to thank our previous charitable allegiance, the World Land Trust. startrescue.co.uk worked with the WLT to offset unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions associated with our vehicle rescues in the UK and abroad. We wish WLT all the best for their future endeavours, however, we will remain in contact.

If you would like further information about Macmillan please visit www.macmillan.org.uk Or if you would like to speak to one of their experts please call the Macmillan Support Line free on 0808 808 00 00 (Monday to Friday, 9am–8pm).