The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT) has made the shortlist for Charity Partnership of the Year in this year’s Third Sector Awards.
The award recognises collaborations between charities which have resulted in the achievement of collective goals.
Less Survivable Cancers include those of the the brain, oesophagus, liver, lung, pancreas and stomach. Currently, in the UK over 90,000 people are diagnosed with one of the less survivable cancers every year. These cancers have an average five year survival rate of just 16% due to a legacy of neglect and underfunding and make up half of all common cancer deaths in the UK.
The LSCT is a partnership of charities supporting patients who have these cancers including Action Against Heartburn, British Liver Trust, Pancreatic Cancer UK, The Brain Tumour Charity, Guts UK, the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and Tenovus Cancer Care. It was established with the goal of reducing mortality caused by the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of cancer.
The last 12 months has seen the Taskforce achieve great success in raising awareness of less survivable cancers and working towards its goal of closing the deadly gap on cancer inequality.
By securing far-reaching national media coverage and influencing UK governments the LSCT has driven high-impact campaigning for faster diagnosis, improved treatments, increased research funding, and a coordinated approach to care in order to improve the outcomes of those affected.
Despite its relatively small size, the LSCT has kept less survivable cancers on the political agenda and informed the public about less survivable cancer symptoms. The total media reach for the LSCT over the past 12 months was 54.7 million.
The award winners will be announced in September.